If you had to pick

[Babyboyno2]

Callan or Donnacha. Living in NI thanks

Callan definitely from a non-NI perspective.

I really don’t like Donnacha - it sounds and looks very heavy and lumpen and I dislike that it starts with Donna - that’s all I can see really is a pretty naff 70s-80s girls name! Don’t like Don as a short form, like Cal as a short form.

But I’m from a different part of the UK so to someone based in NI/Ireland the connotations and sound may feel totally different!

Callan is a thousand times nicer

Thank yous both!
@TheCultureHusks i agree with the “Donna” as I do hear it also

I personally prefer Callan partner prefers Donnacha but also likes Callan

Callan

Callan. I think outside Ireland most people
would assume Donnacha was a girl, which might be an issue for him, depending on where he ends up.

Callan

Yes the -an ending is also a bit of an issue, it almost always signals feminine.

But mainly it’s just not that nice! It’s a big lump of a name, nothing elegant about it at all. It’s a Desmond or a Bertrand of a name.

I’ll say what I always say on these threads, if you’re using his surname, then you get the casting vote. You need to both like the name, but it should be your choice.

I'm totally unfamiliar with Donnacha and would probably assume girl, as it starts like "Donna" and ends in an a. Visually, it reminds me of the Pussy Cat dolls song "Don't Cha," 🙈

Callan is far preferable.

@TheCultureHusks our first child has double barrel surname and this one will to as we aren’t married , Schools etc they may be known as one name rather than a big long name but hasn’t came to that yet, but it’ll be kept on all formal things (birth certificate passport etc) until married and then revisit

Keep that long name - don’t allow his to take precedence! Until you marry and all take your name of course…

Keep your name.
Keep the double barrel.

You clearly don’t like Donnacha that much as you’ve agreed with all the negatives that have been pointed out. So, it’s off the table!

You like Callan. He does too. If you both like it enough that’s great. If not - back to the drawing board, because Donnacha isn’t the name!

@TheCultureHusks Yea I much prefer Callan thanks

I much prefer Callan. I've never heard of Donnacha and I don't particularly like it.

Callan

Callan

Callan - it’s a nice name no one could object to. Cal is a nice short form.

Donnacha - it’s going to be marmite, but more that that Donna is very associated with female names. If he ends up
Don that’s still a bit marmite, a bit D trump and (outside of NI and Scotland) a bit mafioso.

I would prefer Donnacha but I am from the South of Ireland and am very familiar with the name and know that it is normally a male name.

Definitely Callan for me!

But this is probably due to my unfamiliarity with Donnacha. I also can’t instinctively read it as “don’cha” and, in my head, start singing the Pussycat Dolls song. I would keep this to myself IRL, though.

Callan

Donnacha is by far the better known as a boys’ first name where OP lives though. Callan is better known as a surname or as a town (in ROI), it’s really not usual at all as a first name.

Yeah, if he moves Callan will be more straightforward in lots of places, but where he is now Donnacha is absolutely fine and will probably cause less confusion than Callan (Callum?). So I’m not sure if all the comments saying it’s unpronounceable are that relevant really.

I think OP prefers Callan which is fine…but this thread will be anti Donnacha simply because people are unfamiliar with it and that probably isn’t fair to the name or to OP’s DH who prefers it.

People can only comment on their own personal experience. Whether you think that is 'fair' on the name or not is irrelevant. OP chose to post the question here, so is likely to get more responses from people not familiar with the name than from those who are. Thst's the nature of the beast. Maybe if they asked on some local NI forum they'd get a different response, but that doesn't make our responses unfair. I don't think you have to be familiar with a name in order to decide whether you like it or not. On how it looks visually, that's enough to make it a no for me.

I said I am not familiar with the name, not that nobody will be, so I'm not sure why you've made a point of quoting me when I'm definitely not the only person saying I'm not familiar with it. Sure, if the baby never travels from their home country I'm sure it will be fine. Internationally, it probably won't travel very well.

OP only gave two choices for us to choose from. I prefer Callan, out of the two. Neither would be my own personal choice but that's not the point, I answred OP's Q with my honest opinion. I'm not sure what's wrong with that? 🤷‍♀️

I'm the outlier here (apart from the poster from ROI) as I much prefer Donnacha. It's a good, strong name and I personally would not associate it with the girl's name Dona at all. I also think Don for short is pretty cool and these days very unusual.

I don’t think people who are posting are being unfair @BoleynMemories13.
Of course they can only give their own opinion.

I just don’t think it’s a great place for OP to post. The replys will be full of people who can’t pronounce the name Donnacha, that’s to be expected, and of course that will colour their opinion of it. The Craicnet section of MN would be better I think in the circumstances.

It would be different if OP were living outside NI/ROI, but she’s not.

It’s pronounced Dun-a-ka, not Don-a-ka though ( not really a k sound actually but near enough). So would it get shortened to Don?

Well you said it wasn't fair so I can only respond to what you said. In that case then we're in agreement, it's not a 'fair' spread of opinions simply because of where the OP chose to post. People can't help their opinions based on their own experiences.

Yes, that’s it @BoleynMemories13.