The name 'Grainne'

jacy

I'm thinking about naming my baby Grainne. Does anyone know of it being spelled Grania? My husband wants it spelled that way but I don't like the idea of spelling an Irish name in the english version. Also, does anyone know how common the name Grainne is anymore---and where is it most common? Thanks.

jacy

jacy wrote:

I'm thinking about naming my baby Grainne. Does anyone know of it being spelled Grania? My husband wants it spelled that way but I don't like the idea of spelling an Irish name in the english version. Also, does anyone know how common the name Grainne is anymore---and where is it most common? Thanks.

I know a few, dublin/kildare
Grania looks silly to me tbh, and I haven't seen it before
wouldn't you end up with people calling her "gran-ya"?

luckat

Grania is one of those 'easy' spellings for the Gaeilge-challenged, like 'Shawn'.

crosstownk

I'm a fan of Irish names and I'd always spell them as Gaeilge. Irish names that have been Anglicised or Americanised irritate me, tbh.

run_Forrest_run

hmm, even spelling it Grania makes it sound different. The original & traditional spelling is nicer IMO.

dr.bollocko

Isnt it very similar to the Irish word for ugly?

NextSteps

The spelling is Gráinne, with a fada. Lovely name.

simu

Nice name. I prefer the Irish version (being an Irish speaker:)) but I've seen Grania too. It's a name nearly everyone in Ireland is familiar with but it's not common imo. That's good, though - it means your daughter won't have the same name as lots of other girls at school!

dame

Viscountess Powerscourt Sheila Wingfield (nee Beddington) had a daughter named Grania. I was just flicking through books in Hodges Figgis yesterday and noticed that name under a picture in the middle of this book;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Something-Hide-Wingfield-Viscountess-Powerscourt/dp/1843510936/ref=sr_1_1/202-1114064-9321400?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1175779054&sr=8-1

I prefer the Irish spelling Gráinne (I always prefer the traditional spelling of a name) and it is a nice name, but dr.bollocko is right, it is very similar to the word grána (ugly).

I've a cousin by the name in Galway and know a Tipperary girl of the same name but couldn't tell you where it's most common now.

People will pronounce Grania as "Granny-a".

simu

Well, tbh gránna and Gráinne sound quite different to an Irish speaker - they're 2 different n sounds.

potty pete

UB wrote:

The spelling is Gráinne, with a fada. Lovely name.

I disagree. I think it's a harsh sounding and quite ugly name. Just my opinion.

dame

simu wrote:

Well, tbh gránna and Gráinne sound quite different to an Irish speaker - they're 2 different n sounds.

I know, but how many of the people the child comes in contact with will be fluent Irish speakers?

magnumlady

I'm not too keen on the name to be honest. It reminds me of something to do with a groin.

jabaroon

Non irish will also probably have serious problems pronouncing it. I work with a girl called Grainne and all the yanks we deal with are unable to comprehend the correct pronunciation. As a result she has accepted and responds to the name grainey when dealing with the yanks!

spurious

I would be seriously shocked if you came across an Irish person who did not know the name Gráinne.

If I saw a child called Grania my first thought would be that the parents were American and could not spell Gráinne.

As for it being like gránna, that is just daft. The boy's name Denis is one letter away from another word too, but it does not enter my mind when I meet a person called Denis.

iguana

There was definitely a story called Gráinne Gránna when I was a kid. It's always the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the name Gráinne.

Nevyn

I have always like Grainne as a name and the stories to go with it are about strong determined women.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_O'Malley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gr%C3%A1inne

simu

dame wrote:

I know, but how many of the people the child comes in contact with will be fluent Irish speakers?

Well, they probably won't be looking for Irish words that sound like Gráinne then.

Acid_Violet

dame wrote:

I know, but how many of the people the child comes in contact with will be fluent Irish speakers?

Most people don't cop the similarities between gránna and Gráinne. It has become a lot more common recently (and will become more common thanks to Gráinne Seoige in fairness) so if you want a fairly original name this wouldn't be a good one to bank on.

simu

iguana wrote:

There was definitely a story called Gráinne Gránna when I was a kid. It's always the first thing that comes to mind when I hear the name Gráinne.

Oh, I believe that was Gráinne Gráinneog(Hedgehog) on Bosco!:D

edanto

Thaedydal wrote:

I have always like Grainne as a name and the stories to go with it are about strong determined women.

qft

Beautiful name. She could well be proud to have the proper Irish spelling too.

dame

simu wrote:

Well, they probably won't be looking for Irish words that sound like Gráinne then.

The kids in school will come across the word gránna.

BoozyBabe

potty pete wrote:

I disagree. I think it's a harsh sounding and quite ugly name. Just my opinion.

Seconded. I'm afraid

Something like Caitríona is far nicer

microgirl

AFAIK Grania is the Latinised rather than the Anglicised version of Gráinne - it's usually Anglicised Grace.

I have to say although I'm usually much more in favour of the most traditional spelling possible I really rather like Grania. I know Morgan Llewellan used that spelling in her fictional novelabout Grace O'Malley/Gráinne Ui Mhaille/Granuaile/call-her-what-you-will, and I have seen it in other places as well. I do think though that it would more likely get pronounce GRAN-ya, as has been mentioned on the thread already. But bear in mind that in, say, Ulster "Gráinne" would be pronounced GRAN-ya anyway. Or at least that's how my mam's relatives all pronounce her name

I haven't actually come across any kids in the last few years with that name, but I'm not much in the way of seeing kids anyway. Most people I know with that name would me my own generation (late-20s to mid-30s). It's not a fraction as common as the likes of Aoife or Deirdre (both gorgeous Irish names, but far too common for my liking)

Trinity

Idont know any Grainnes.

Its a nice name but i wouldnt even consider spelling it Grania or any other way tbh. If you choose Grainne then leave the spelling alone or choose a different one altogether. There are some great free sites out there with baby names. In my day you had to buy a book

My sons name is Seán. I think nice Irish names are few and far between tbh so theres not a lot of choose from, just my opinion. And i'm looking for names at the moment too. In saying that my Irish is dire so looking up books is difficult unless they have a section to help with pronunciation.

Trinity

BoozyBabe wrote:

Something like Caitríona is far nicer

Now that is a lovely name.

Blush_01

TBH I think Gráinne is far prettier than Caitríona, but you do associate names with people you know of that name. Grania is a latinisation of Gráinne.

If I were you, OP, I'd be all for spelling it correctly, as gaeilge. I hate when people spell my name (Úna) or my sister's name wrong (I'm particularly particular about my fada). My sister's name is Eibhlín and people always spell it Eileen which I find horrible by comparison.

Whatever you go with, best of luck!

deisemum

Personally it's the one Irish name that I really dislike and I thought it was the Irish for ugly.

I think you should name your baby whatever you like because people will always differ in their opinions of names anyway. Each to their own

Orion

Gráinne is a lovely name. We considered it for our daughters. Go with the Irish spelling.

<-- proud father of Ailbhe and Bláithín.

killbillvol2

Gráinne's not in the top 25 most common names: Link

Anglicised spellings of Irish names look stupid IMO. They give me the impression that the parents couldn't spell the name correctly. And Grania is a particularly bad one.

csk

It's a gorgeous name and should be spelt as Gaeilge with the fada if you ask me. Grania just doesn't look right. If I saw the name I would be likely to pronounce it gran-ee-a.

I know of at least three Gráinne's personally spread out around the country, but the name is so nice I don't think that its popularity should matter and you could do alot worse.

jacy

Wow...lots of responses. Thank you all for your opinions! This is my fifth girl so I'm kind of running out of names. None of my other daughters has an Irish name(my son does though)and being that this may be my last child I really want to make it a strong Irish name. I'm open to any other ideas...I only have 2 weeks left. Thanks everyone.:)

dame

I think Bláthnaid is a lovely name but you would have to be spelling it for people. That's the trouble with a lot of nice Irish names. Unless it's fairly common a lot of people won't know how to spell it. Unfortunately I couldn't use that name as I have a cousin with it (and I wanted something different).

Úna is a lovely name too (my sister's name), short and simple enough and there aren't a whole lot of them. Like Blush_01 said though, you'll still get people spelling it wrong.

Whatever name you pick (in whatever language and with whatever spelling you choose) there will always be a few people who'll manage to spell it wrong, or not recognise how to pronounce it when they see it written (unless it's one of the more common names (top 10 or top 25 or something), and they know lots of people with the name already). Pick something you like because you'll be using it forever more and try and use the correct (traditional) spelling because (as killbillvol2 said), it just looks a bit silly and as if the parents didn't know how to spell it otherwise.

I hope your other kids give you a chance to get your feet up now for the next fortnight! Best of luck!

Orion

dame wrote:

I think Bláthnaid is a lovely name but you would have to be spelling it for people. That's the trouble with a lot of nice Irish names. Unless it's fairly common a lot of people won't know how to spell it. Unfortunately I couldn't use that name as I have a cousin with it (and I wanted something different).

We considered Bláthnaid but went for Bláithín instead - just preferred the sound of it even though they both mean pretty much the same thing. As for spelling - people will learn how to spell it - I wouldn't let that be a bar to a name.

bandraoi

If you live in Ireland, go with the Irish spelling. Irish people don't have difficulty pronouncing Irish names spelled the Irish name whether or not they speak Irish themselves.

Non-Irish people will have problems, but non-Spanish people will have problems with Spanish names, non-French people will have problems with French names etc. so don't let that be the basis for your decision.
Niamh/Siobhán/Aoife/Ailbhe will all be butchered by non-Irish people.

There is always the possibility that any name you choose will be linked in the school yard to a horrible nickname. Every name can be twisted that way, and even if you pick the most neutral one possible, who's to say that there won't be a very famous character with the same name in the next five years.

killbillvol2

If you google for Irish girls' names there's a lot of info out there. Some beautiful names. Some mad names too! Afric, Gubnait etc.

Good luck with your choice and remember that your child will have to live with it!

looksee

I prefer the Irish spellings of Irish names and I have no Irish, Grainne is a pretty name, but I don't like the look of the other version.

kelle

My mother was going to call me Gráinne, but was afraid the other children at school would twig it sounded like gránach so didn't go along with it. As it happened I went to school with 2 Gráinne's and nobody ever made fun of their name. I don't like Grania, sounds like grainy!
I think it's a lovely name.

kelle

bandraoi wrote:

If you live in Ireland, go with the Irish spelling. Irish people don't have difficulty pronouncing Irish names spelled the Irish name whether or not they speak Irish themselves.

Non-Irish people will have problems, but non-Spanish people will have problems with Spanish names, non-French people will have problems with French names etc. so don't let that be the basis for your decision.
Niamh/Siobhán/Aoife/Ailbhe will all be butchered by non-Irish people.

.

I named my son Tomás, but people (Irish or not) tend to call him Thomas.
I remember my friend Siobhán being called seeb-han when we lived in England!

wingnut

I like Gráinne. One of the girls I work with is Gráinne but people here in Wales have trouble with it (one insists on pronouncing it Graw-neen). Then one of my students was complaining that one teacher calls her Nymph (her name is Niamh).

luckat

I like Gráinne, and besides, she was a tough babe - a good role model for your daughter.

A young girl who's being married off to the ancient creaky hero, and decides to choose her own husband, so she puts him faoi geasa to take her away out of there, gives everyone else a sleepy potion and runs with him - then when he's being a bit too pure, she takes him by the two ears in the middle of a stream and tells him to act the man!

Other possible names - just looking around me at work and thinking of former workplaces, there's Étáin, Emer, Siobhán, Sinéad, Eileen, Éilís, Bríd, Maeve, Aoife, Fiona (pronounced FEEona in the Irish version), Maolmhuire (pronounced Mwaylra), Máiréad, Máire, Caitríona, Liadhain (pronounced LEEan), Lasarfhiona (Losser-eena), Déirdre, Fionnuala, Morna, Muireann, Doireann....

OTK

What is the Irish for ugliness (the noun)? I though it was 'Gráinne'?

Pherekydes

Hardly now, since so many parents call their little princesses Gráinne!

Gránna = ugly

GRÁINNE

Gender: Feminine

Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology

Pronounced: GRAWN-ya

Possibly derived from Gaelic grán meaning "grain". This was the name of an ancient Irish grain goddess. The name also belonged to the fiancée of Fionn mac Cumhail and the lover of Diarmuid in later Irish legend, and it is often associated with gráidh "love".

dr.bollocko

Do you not think that it might be time to end the fad of having extremely extremely Oirish names for your kids?
To be honest once I hear young parents talking about these ott Irish names for their kids, it just seems a bit pretentious. Like a hyphenated name, or double barrel naming your poor kids.
These names often seem to exist as an aid to the parents sense of intellectual superiority based on a tag attached to a language on the wane. I can just imagine the conversations about the regeneration of Gaeilge over the M&S coffee already.
Little Bleathnaid Hughes-Mc. Guire and Fiachra Ui Luchlainn-Dunnobhain won't thank you in 20 years when nobody on an entire continent can pronounce their name. Name your kids something they might possibly like in the future, and not what seems to fit with the social circle right now.

Quackles

dr.bollocko wrote:

Do you not think that it might be time to end the fad of having extremely extremely Oirish names for your kids?
To be honest once I hear young parents talking about these ott Irish names for their kids, it just seems a bit pretentious. Like a hyphenated name, or double barrel naming your poor kids.

Steady on.. Gráinne is hardly 'extremely oirish', it is quite a normal name. It's my sister's name, in fact, and she's in her 30s, so that is no new fad.

BTW, my son has a double barrelled surname. Don't blame me, goes back generations, neither of the barrels came from mammy

Pherekydes

dr.bollocko wrote:

Do you not think that it might be time to end the fad of having extremely extremely Oirish names for your kids?
To be honest once I hear young parents talking about these ott Irish names for their kids, it just seems a bit pretentious. Like a hyphenated name, or double barrel naming your poor kids.
These names often seem to exist as an aid to the parents sense of intellectual superiority based on a tag attached to a language on the wane. I can just imagine the conversations about the regeneration of Gaeilge over the M&S coffee already.
Little Bleathnaid Hughes-Mc. Guire and Fiachra Ui Luchlainn-Dunnobhain won't thank you in 20 years when nobody on an entire continent can pronounce their name. Name your kids something they might possibly like in the future, and not what seems to fit with the social circle right now.

What a load of drivel. And what about people who simply like Irish names? They should be forced to give their kids names like Jason and Kylie and Victoria? Oh because the poor ignorant furriners can't pronounce them?

And news flash: The Irish language is on the rise again.

And what does the superior one suggest? John and Mary are too old; Kylie and Jason are too pretentious; Irish names are out, period; all non-English names or names of more than one syllable are out: too difficult to pronounce (that's a good one- maybe we should all just grunt at each other?).

dr.bollocko

Here we go.
Oh wow. Drivel eh? Bet you're glad you said that...
I think you love the irish language, therefore all contrary opinions are to be ignored or insulted. Clearly anyone who has a dislike for gaeilge is some sort of inferior muppet. Because your opinion has to be the right one, right?
No point actually listening to the opinion of another when you can sarcastically put them down on an anonymous internet forum, right?
Well your reply was rather ineffective really. It just took on a sneering, sarcastic, inelegant and poorly constructed tone which belies that lack of contrary opinion you have in your post. You rely heavily on mocking my post rather than addressing anything I actually said, or posting a contro-argument of your own. Thats just close minded, and it's also a fallacy negating any point you were trying to make, and in a real debate would be ignored for simply that reason.
That wasn't drivel, that was my opinion. I formed it, backed it up and expressed it reasonably, if informally. There is no one right answer to a question of whether or not a name is nice.
I dont understand how you cannot get this.
Its a matter of opinion. Mine is different to yours, so in your world, this means that you must be right and therefore I'm spouting drivel? Getting a bit wrapped up in your own self importance there maybe? A bit too sure of your own correctness in that post? To be honest it just came across as a bit smug and snooty from someone who knows I have a point but dislikes the informal way I decided to make it.
Why in the hell would I care about people who LIKE Irish names? Im a person who frequently DOES NOT like irish names, therefore my post must be drivel? Do you even know how a discussion works? Let people who like Irish names post here defending them. I dont, so why would I?
Or maybe you fathered a Blathnaid Murphy Ni Bhornacain and you decided that I was personally attacking you or something?

All I said was that is seems a bit pretentious to continually harken back to essentially dead languages in an anglicised society where spelling, pronunciation and insults the poor kid will have to face at school are all an issue.
I didnt claim to be superior at any stage. But in not getting personal and making numerous sneering, sarcastic, OTT statements you have decided to make it personal.
In a caste system such as we have, a trend has started of late to use overly elaborately Irish names for your kids. It doesnt tend to happen in working class areas of Ireland, this fad is the offspring of affluent Ireland's misguided snobbery. I can understand your attachment to Irish names from the standpoint of finding the language beautiful. However, in many cases It's merely a way of setting in stone, at least for the time being, that this child is of a certain more privileged background. It belies a certain cultural snobbery that I find hilariously misguided.

jacy

jacy wrote:

Wow...lots of responses. Thank you all for your opinions! This is my fifth girl so I'm kind of running out of names. None of my other daughters has an Irish name(my son does though)and being that this may be my last child I really want to make it a strong Irish name. I'm open to any other ideas...I only have 2 weeks left. Thanks everyone.:)

Caoimhe! I think it sounds so pretty, much nicer than grainne. I can't type the fada on this comp...

NextSteps

So, Dr Bollocko, what will your kids be called?

dr.bollocko

Big bollocko and Hairy Bollocko.
I like Hairy cos its biblical.

Pherekydes

Here we go.

I think you hate the Irish language, therefore all contrary opinions are to be ignored or insulted. Clearly anyone who has a like for Gaeilge is some sort of pretentious prat. Because your opinion has to be the right one, right?
No point actually listening to the opinion of another when you can sarcastically put them down on an anonymous internet forum, right?
Well your reply was rather ineffective really. It just took on a sneering, sarcastic, inelegant and poorly constructed tome which belies that lack of contrary opinion you have in your post [this doesn't make sense, does it, since "all contrary opinions" is referred to in the first line above].

There is no one right answer to a question of whether or not a name is nice. Calling parents pretentious and OTT just because you disagree with their opinions rather negates your own, based on your logic, above. I don't understand how you cannot get this.

It's a matter of opinion. Mine is different to your's; so in your world, this means that you must be right?

Why in the hell would I care about people who DISLIKE Irish names? I'm a person who frequently LIKES Irish names, therefore my post must be ignored?

Do you even know how a discussion works?

You call parents who give their kids Irish names pretentious and OTT; I disagree with you; I call what you've written 'drivel' and you respond by saying my opinion doesn't count because I've attacked your opinion.

A bit touchy, eh? You don't like to be called out over what you say? Basically, you can say what you like, and call people any name you wish, but if someone says this is drivel (and factually wrong) then post back saying their opinion doesn't agree with yours, so we just ignore it?

Irish is not an 'essentially dead language'. If people have problems with "spelling, pronunciation and insults" then that is their problem, wouldn't you say? Or where does personal responsibility begin?

I didn't claim to be superior at any stage:

In a caste system such as we have, a trend has started of late to use overly elaborately Irish names for your kids. It doesnt tend to happen in working class areas of Ireland, this fad is the offspring of affluent Ireland's misguided snobbery. I can understand your attachment to Irish names from the standpoint of finding the language beautiful. However, in many cases It's merely a way of setting in stone, at least for the time being, that this child is of a certain more privileged background. It belies a certain cultural snobbery that I find hilariously misguided.

If this isn't "snearing[sic], sarcastic, OTT", then tell me what is?