Using a Scottish name if you can't pronounce if perfectly

[Mamma37447]

DH is half Scottish, I'm not. We love several Scottish names, like Mhari, both the spelling and the pronunciation. DH's pronunciation is ok, mine is quite flat however hard I try, MIL's pronunciation is wonderful, the way she kind of rolls the Mh- and -ri.

Is it silly to use it even if I can't pronounce it perfectly?

I'm scottish and I would say it "ma-riy" how do you say it? And use what ever name you like

Side note have you ever watched "catastrophe" she called her baby a very Irish name and noone can pronounce it but her even her husband!

Beautiful name btw

I don't know. I have a cockney friend whose daughter is named 'Marfaaaaa' so I don't suppose it matters much really!

So the traditional spelling is Mhairi. Are you pronouncing it with the mh as a V sound as is traditional? I went to school with a Mhairi pronounced with a m, mhairi pronounced with a v and a vhairi. Also had a girl in the year above called Mairi. We are in Scotland though so majority of people pronounce it correctly, so it depends on how much it will annoy you correcting people if they are wrong depending on where you live. It's a lovely name though 😊

Remember that there will come a time in their life when your child will need to pronounce their own name. Where will your child grow up? Will they have a Scottish accent?

I'm scottish and would pronounce this as Vha-ri, though a really soft V. How are you saying it? I suppose as long as you are attempting to pronounce it correctly that's the best you can do.

Fwiw I think its a beautiful name, even if you aren't using the traditional pronunciation

Worst scottish person ever over here never hear it with a "v" sound HAHA!!! Is it more of a north/island word? Curious!!?

Vha-ree with a good roll on the r

I knew a Mhairi years ago. We lived in England at the time but she was Scottish. If I remember correctly, we all pronounced it to rhyme with “marry”.

We pronounce Mh almost like V in gaelic

Mh in Gaelic is s pronounced v

I'm in Fife so neither north or highland

A highlander here - have to say it’s a Gaelic name so you’d pronounce the Mh ‘v’. I think what you’re looking for is Mairi (ma-ree)?

God, yes I've even misspelt it in my post. I meant Mhairi. And my Mil used the v pronunciation but I read the m pronunciation is used too.

Also Scottish and I've known Mhairi's who gave up trying to get their name pronounced correctly (Vhaa-ree). Some even just answered to Mary as adults haha. I think if you're not precious about it then go for it!

Muireann! It is tricky to pronounce alright. You start with an M sound and then 'wirinn'. It's a bit like trying to roll those Scottish rs 😊

I think I'm mainly annoyed with myself that I can't roll my r's however much I practice. I have another name I love with two rolling R's in it!

It's worse for my family who are chinese origin and really struggle with a normal R pronunciation.

Also used to work with someone who spelled it Vari - so basically do whatever you want I reckon.

We had this dilemma too and decided against the lovely Scottish name that I loved until I said it. In our case DH is Scottish so at least one of the parents said the name properly. Mhairi is a tricky one with pronunciation so I would avoid.

Mirren is a similar vein of name that might work for you, if you are looking for a name that is more traditionally spelt ailis might work for you or maeve is also pretty. Ailsa also a less commonly used name. Choose something that's important to you and that you can imagine yourself shouting in the supermarket as they run off whilst having a tantrum 😂 both my boys have traditional spelt names and we've come across lots of variants of how my eldest is spelt (we went with most common) but it's got a lot of R sounds in it and our English relatives definitely struggle with pronunciation so worth considering.

In Gaelic, the name would be Mairi. Mhairi is the vocative form.

https://gaelicgrammar.org/~gaelic/mediawiki/index.php/Vocative_Case

I love Mhairi, and in fact own one 😂.
Being Scottish I use the soft ‘v’, but I don’t get my knickers in a twist when people don’t get it right. We live in a very multicultural area in England, so I don’t see that it’s any different from the many other beautiful non-English names we hear.
My dd is similarly not fussed, she has an innate sense of self I admire, but then she is only 6.

Love the name and have a Mhairi (Maari) my team at work but my English colleagues always pronounce it Marie (Ma-ree).

HI know two, both spelled Mhairi. One pronounced with a V one with an M. Central Scotland

I have a Scottish name that I can't even pronounce (Scottish family but grew up in England) 😂

Mhairi is pronounced Vahree. M sounds would be Mairi, Maree, Marion, Morag, etc