Irish girl's names

[Babygirlname123]

Considering an Irish girls name for our last baby.
We live in the UK, DH is Irish.
Thoughts on the below
Croia (kree-ah)
Clodagh (Cloh-da)
Fiadh (Fia)
Saoirse (Seersha)

Are they too difficult to live with over here in terms of spelling/pronunciation?
I don't really like any other Irish girls names. I kind of like Maeve, Niamh and Aoife but not enough to use them.

And why would that be an issue, unless you're so fragile that you can't cope with your name being mispronounced?

Cara and Clodagh are beautiful. The others are trickier but still lovely.
I work with someone whose wife is called Grainne - any ideas how to pronounce this?

GROYN-yuh.

Absolutely love Saoirse & I think with the actress Saoirse Ronan the majority of people would be able to pronounce it
Though it doesn't matter what your name is someone always manages to mangle it.
I know a Christina who gets called Christine and Crystal, a Racquel who gets called Rachel & Ella gets changed to Ellie or sometimes Eleanor.

I love Clodagh. I got ripped apart for saying that on here recently lol.

I like Aisling too.

GRAwn - ya

Emphasis on the gra, pulling out the a. The awn would be like from dawn.

And ya / yeh with a soft h at the end

Its a hard balance to strike. There are some Irish names that to an English ear sound quite fresh but to an Irish ear sound really dated.
Because we have so much Irish family and spend a lot of time there it's important that it sounds OK over there.
I like Croia, but I know some people see it as made up.

Are you always such a keyboard warrior? Or are you just feeling especially twattish tonight? My 2 year is often confused, rather than upset, about why he's called ODD-ran so often.

I posted to be helpful. You posted to get a chance to be a dick anonymously.

I totally get this. Also, not everyone likes additional attention being on them every time they say their name. One of my sons is painfully shy and I don't think it would work for him. It's one of the reasons I hesitate with these names, even though they are lovely.

If i had my time again I'd probably still go for something Irish but more phonetical. Or at least that doesn't sound awful if read out phonetically.
But you go for whatever you think is best and it'll be beautiful x

Caoilfhionn

Odhran is a lovely name, and he can always use Oran if he wants to in the future, but I do think as children get older the occasions that they meet someone for the first time reduce. Their friends and teachers learn the name, same with the doctor and dentist etc, so it becomes less of an issue. Plus I do think Irish names are becoming more mainstream over here which helps.

I think Clodagh is lovely.

I only like saoirse from your list. I also love Orla and Siobhan and Caoimhe

Croía is a lovely name but Conor McGregor has used it which has put a lot of Irish people off the name.

but I do think as children get older the occasions that they meet someone for the first time reduce

I don't think that is true.... what about

• when you give your name for an order - take away, or a coffee for example
• Make a booking (hairdresser, dentist, giving your name at the garage when you book your car in , etc etc etc)
• when you start secondary, or 6th form, or go to University or start an apprenticeship. At secondary you are likely to be taught be 10 - 15 different staff per year
• when there is anyone new in - cover supervisor, supply teacher, student, visiting speaker, specialist coach, etc
• when you start a placement as part of your training
• when you join a sports team, or, quite frankly, any hobby or new activity
• when you start work
• when you then have to introduce yourself to clients / customers / service users / patients. Depending on role this might be several times a day
• When you meet someone new, socially - at a party or in a bar or wherever

Some sounds are easier for some people to 'hear' and replicate, as they sound the same as sounds from another language (eg Niamh, sounds, to my ears like 'neeve' - all sounds that are in the English language. But other sounds don't 'translate' so well. (I don't know Irish well enough to give an example, but I'm going to suggest the double L sound in the Welsh language which quite a few English people just find really difficult to replicate). You've still got problems with people reading it or spelling it, but at least it will be said correctly if a person introduces themself. Obviously you can't predict where children will move to as adults, but if you know you will be living in one country for the foreseeable future, I think it is helpful to use a name that isn't going to cause issues every single time you have to tell people what your name is.

I like all the names on your list, but Clodagh is my favourite. I think people adjust to unusual spellings. One of my daughters, now adult, has a similar name, and she really doesn't mind that she often has to spell it and correct people. I have a really common name, spelt and pronounced in the usual ways, and often have to correct people. So my conclusion is not to worry too much about unusual spellings or pronunciations, within reason.

I think people will get used to it fairly quickly. All nice names.

Obviously you can't predict where children will move to as adults, but if you know you will be living in one country for the foreseeable future, I think it is helpful to use a name that isn't going to cause issues every single time you have to tell people what your name is.

But countries aren’t necessarily full of one homogeneous type of person. I’m a Londoner & a lot of people I interact with on a daily basis are 1st or 2nd gen immigrants.

Also with the internet & raised awareness loads of people google names before meeting you to check the pronunciation.

Clodagh is my favourite from your list. It’s gorgeous.
I like all the others too, think they are more popular in Ireland as someone else said, and the Conor McGregor link would also put me off Croia.
I read Trespasses recently and really like Cushla which is phonetic, but maybe is really dated these days in Ireland for all I know - like calling a baby Colleen!

I love all these Irish names! Yes Conor McGregor has a Croia but sure so what! It’s a cute name.
Clodagh is my favourite though.
Another more unusual one is Suin, not sure if there’s a fada there or not. There’s one in ds’s primary. They pronounce it Shoon. I think it’s lovely.

How do you pronounce it ?

It’s not a cute name, it’s ghastly. ‘Croí’ means ‘heart’ or ‘core, centre’ in Irish, so someone has just stuck an ‘a’ on the end, which is not how Irish words work. It’s brand new (first time there were more than three was 2018), messes with Irish orthography, and Conor McGregor popularised it. That’s not someone you want to be making the same decisions as.

It’s like calling your child ‘Heart-a’.

FEE- uh. Second syllable a schwa.