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.

@NamingNoNames yeah I know, I am a Welsh speaker actually - as I said “cria” means shoelaces in my area in my “local accent”

@honeyrider , Orla is popular in GB, but it doesn't sound the same in a non-rhotic accent. Ciara (Keira) is fairly popular but gets said as Kee-er-uh.

Not clear from your post which syllable gets stressed in the names. e.g. is it SHIN-aid or Shin-AID or Shin Aid?

Niamh is NEE-(uh)v

@user2848502016 , you actually posted cria means shoelaces in my area of Wales!.

@NamingNoNames

https://forvo.com/word/sin%C3%A9ad/

Most of these names are middle age women names in Ireland. A bit like calling your new baby Rebecca or Nicola or Susan.

Fia is very popular for little girls now, as is Eabha (Ava).

Sinead?

I meant when you read the post you can't tell. I'm familiar with the names, but often hear the wrong syllable stressed.

Róisín said as Rosh-EEN/ROW-sheen etc.

In that case, perhaps the Bridie i know was named after her grandmother?

Éabha has a fada though, so Fia or Fiadh might be simpler outside Ireland.

I only have boys, all Irish names, but my top name for a girl was always Siofra, pronounced She-fra

Oh I see. Stress can depend on dialect though, so sometimes there is more than one correct pronunciation. Irish is unlike English in that regard I think. Each dialect of the language is considered equally correct.

For example, where I am Ciarán is Keer-AWN. In Galway or Dublin it seems to be KEER-awn. In Ulster Irish á isn’t said as ‘aw’ so the ending of the name sounds different. None of them are wrong.

Similarly, Róisín is Roe-SHEEN where I am, but it’s said differently further north I believe.

I have an Irish name and have had to explain how to pronounce it and spell it all my life. Never bothered me. In fact I like being a bit different!

Out of all the names listed above I think Orla is beautiful and assuming it’s pronounced in Irish how it’s spelt you wouldn’t have my problems with pronunciation in the UK.

if I wasn’t 20 years past child bearing age, I might pinch this myself!

I did exactly this.
Or I have people come to me asking me how to pronounce Irish names at work! So my kids names are fool proof!

Or GrOnya.

From your list I love Saoirse and like Fiadh but I’m in Scotland and pronunciation would be fine, I couldn’t handle an accent that just sounded like lazy pronunciation of Thea.

DC would have been Orlaith, Aoife or Caoimhe if they’d been a girl.

Orla is often mangled in England actually (as most English accents don’t pronounce the r in the name in the same the way as an Irish accent would). Probably fine in Scotland, not sure about Wales. NI fine.

Also, it has a fada!!!
(This gives the word a different meaning and pronunciation.) Lots of people do leave it out though and pronounce the name as if it were there.

But, strictly speaking, Órla means golden princess.
Orla…doesn’t.

This is Ór in various Irish dialects
www.teanglann.ie/ga/fuaim/%c3%b3r

@TimeForATerf , Orla gets said as Awluh like 'all a' in 'all about nothing' instead of Orla.

DNs (15 and 20) are called Róisín and Caoimhe, and they seem to cope. Though Caoimhe was addressed as Kevin by a teacher when she started secondary school!

@user2848502016 , sorry if I seemed rude but it seemed a stretch to link careiau to Croia. Not a long shot from cria meaning you cry as in 'cria di...' though.

And Fiadh might be lovely but it will sound like Fear.

I think that Fiadh and Saoirse would be my top choices, OP! Don't forget that people will get used to her name, and if you live in an area where there is a lot of variety in names (or maybe if she goes to a Catholic school; Irish names were fairly common at the one that I was at for a few years), it won't be too much trouble. Also, as Fiadh is not yet ridiculously popular outside of Ireland, you will be ahead of the curve!

I thought Orla didn't have a fada as an anglicised version

People will soon learn how to pronounce them. They are not particularly difficult to pronounce so once they are told I don't see the issue.
I don't think people should avoid using names from their culture just because some people might not immediately know how to pronounce them