Girl's name - Orlaith

[polly8664]

Hi, Be honest. What do you think of the name Orlaith for a wee girl? (pronounced Orla). Surname will be McNamara but unsure if i should put her t hrough having to go through life spelling out her first AND second name (i thought McNamara would be an easy one but apparently not.)

No idea if the baby is a girl, but can't even think of a boys name yet. will work that one out later (due Aug 14th).

It is a lovely name. Always reminds me of the girl in bb.

Would most people know not to pronounce it as it's spelt? I'd assume it ended in a th sound.

I love the name Orla, my bf is called it BUT I don't like that spelling of it. I think it looks too harsh for some reason.

Unless you're living in Ireland or Scotland I'd consider spelling it Orla to avoid people pronouncing it phonetically.
Orla McNamara has a lovely rhythm to it though (I always think of McNamara's Band)

it probably depends where you live but she will get people calling her orlathe

or is that just me?

it's not different to names like naomi etc etc

Absolutely gorgeous, spelt either way. I like the more unusual spelling. I have a dodgy maiden name and have spelt most of my life spelling it out to people. Never bothered me.

I like your name, never heard it before. But my first saying of it was with 'th' sound. So I think i like it spelt orla.
Althouth i live in Oz so I guess that might explain why I have not heard or needed to pronouce such a name.
i've always had to spell both my names, I don't mind at all. If fact kept my unusual surname as dh's was just not me "too plain"

I like orla, but I am very much into printed textiles

We are considering Orla too! Had a sneaky suspicion it might be getting popular... as others have said, unless you live in Ireland, it might be easier to spell it Orla, but I think it is a lovely name either way and goes well with the surname.

I love Orla - as long as its spelt Orla. I am also considering this

Prefer the gaelic spelling myself but it's potentially more of a PITA for her.

I think it's a lovely name but unless you are in Ireland or Scotland then she is going to have to correct people. My friends live in Wales and have given their sons Irish names with Irish spellings, so they do have to spell things out a lot! It is a very pretty name though.

I like it too, but it reminds me of someone I used to work with many moons ago who watered the artificial plants in the office. Unfortunately she was Irish.

She will be condemned to a life of spelling it, we took the aidh off the end of my DS's Gaelic name. We asked loads of our English friends to spell it, the traditional way, they all failed miserably so we went with the easy spelling.

I went to school with a girl called Yvonne MacNamara, I always thought that scanned rather well.

Like it, but would spell it Orla, looks prettier, easier to spell and pronounce.

I LOVE this name. Agree I would have Orla. and i wouldn't worry too much about the BB connection - she's had her day, doubt many people will make the association, esp as time goes on. I really considered this for a long time when having dd2. But dd1's name sounds fairly similar and would have been a mouthful when said together

Thanks for all you messages. it's nice to know that lots of people like the name and it's not just me. Jury's out on the spelling. Will need to think about that one.

Message withdrawn

...plus it's 'Hello' in Spanish. I just couldn't.

I prefer the original spellings for Celtic names rather than bastardised phonetic versions, like "Chevonne" for Siobhan, etc. And I think Orlaith is lovely, by the way.

actually, what do I know - looks like Orla is just as valid a spelling as Orlaith is, according to baby name sites.

Love Orlaith, sounds wispy and waifish which is a good thing imo, could always be shortened to Orla if preferred.

but Zeit, it's pronounced Orla even with the long gaelic spelling

Love Orlaith. And if she comes to Ireland she won't have to spell out anything!

And lazyemma - do people really spell it chevonne? Jaysus!