Baby names!

LordSutch

Re Irish names, two years ago my sister had a little daughter here in wicklow, & since then she & the family have moved to manchester due to her hubsands job, but they are already running into difficulty re the childs name 'Aoibhe' which seems pretty impenetrible to most Mancunian folk who just call the child 'Abi' or Obi.

I wonder is this a common problem with very strong Irish names like Aoibhe, Caoimhe, Medbh, Qaoimhe, etc.

Just a question?

getz

Camelot wrote: »

Re Irish names, two years ago my sister had a little daughter here in wicklow, & since then she & the family have moved to manchester due to her hubsands job, but they are already running into difficulty re the childs name 'Aoibhe' which seems pretty impenetrible to most Mancunian folk who just call the child 'Abi' or Obi.

I wonder is this a common problem with very strong Irish names like Aoibhe, Caoimhe, Medbh, Qaoimhe, etc.

Just a question?

it is a big problem now with a smaller world, i was born and spent most of my life in manchester and i cannot pronounce any of those names.maybe the answer will be to give a child a second christian name ,he or she can use if neaded,my irish surname is dolan i am glad my ancesters never kept up the original irish word for it.

flibbertyjibbet

Camelot wrote: »

Re Irish names, two years ago my sister had a little daughter here in wicklow, & since then she & the family have moved to manchester due to her hubsands job, but they are already running into difficulty re the childs name 'Aoibhe' which seems pretty impenetrible to most Mancunian folk who just call the child 'Abi' or Obi.

I wonder is this a common problem with very strong Irish names like Aoibhe, Caoimhe, Medbh, Qaoimhe, etc.

Just a question?

Definitely! I have an irish name and even though it's spelt the english way, i still get replies of "huh?" "what?" in other countries! Funny to see/hear some of the interpretations though :pac:

The Big Red Button

LolaDub wrote: »

Caoimhinn is the boys version of Caoimhe, the irish of Kevin. Its pronounced kee-veen or caoimhainn is que-vawn.

carolinespring wrote: »

Thats my god daughters name and they pronounce it Kay-lynne.

As I dont speak Irish I dont have a clue about how to pronouce Irish names.

Sorry, but are you sure that's how it's spelt and pronounced? Maybe you quoted the wrong post or something? It's just that ... that can't be right

sarahlulu

Already have my babies, three little girls, Sarah, Louise(Lulu) and Emily.

Love the name Matthew for a boy, but not enough to go again!!

carolinespring

chatterpillar wrote: »

Sorry, but are you sure that's how it's spelt and pronounced? Maybe you quoted the wrong post or something? It's just that ... that can't be right

No, the right post and yes, I am sure that is how they spell and pronounce it. As I said I would not know as I dont speak Irish. My sister-in-law who is a Irish teacher says she sees lots of kids with irish names not spelled and pronounced right. In the case of my god daughter, one english and one Irish parent.

Pythia

carolinespring wrote: »

Thats my god daughters name and they pronounce it Kay-lynne.

Sounds like Caoileann.

The Big Red Button

I'm just saying that because, in the Irish language, "mh" does not and cannot make an "l" sound!

Das Kitty

There's a spelling of the name that's Caoimhleann

Also I never knew that there was such a prevalence of Qaoimhes. I looks almost oriental with that Q with no corresponding U.

It's deffo not a traditional spelling as the letter Q doesn't exist in the Irish language.

Talking of unpronouncability in other countries, I don't think this is a huge problem. We're getting so multicultural that there are lots of names that are going to be unpronounceable to someone, I don't see why you should have to avoid them because someone might not understand them (I've recently changed my position on this btw!). It would be a shame to see some of the traditional names die out.

LordSutch

Das Kitty wrote: »

There's a spelling of the name that's Caoimhleann.

Teenagers being teenagers, she might well end up being called 'Cameleon' in a few years time? and as for travelling abroad, it migh be a pretty impenetrable name to many ?

Just a thought.

Das Kitty

Camelot wrote: »

Teenagers being teenagers, she might well end up being called 'Cameleon' in a few years time? and as for travelling abroad, it migh be a pretty impenetrable name to many ?

Just a thought.

Who's that directed at? I was just responding to above speculation.

I think worrying too much about pronouncability is useless. Doesn't matter what name you pick it's going to confuse someone. With so many different cultures in Ireland now, there are going to be huge variations in names in schools.

LordSutch

Das Kitty wrote: »

Who's that directed at? I was just responding to above speculation.

Sorry Das Kitty, my last post wasn't directed at anybody in particular!

I was just suggesting that some Irish names are nearly impossible for many people to pronounce or to spell (both here & abroad) > Caoimhleann, Caoimhe, & Medbh being prime examples.

I only discovered that Medbh was pronounced 'Maeve' a couple of months ago, & I'm now in my late thirties!

Das Kitty

Camelot wrote: »

Sorry Das Kitty, my last post wasn't directed at anybody in particular!

I was just suggesting that some Irish names are nearly impossible for many people to pronounce or to spell (both here & abroad) > Caoimhleann, Caoimhe, & Medbh being prime examples.

I only discovered that Medbh was pronounced 'Maeve' a couple of months ago, & I'm now in my late thirties!

I think you'll find that with nearly every name. Somewhere there'll be someone who can't pronounce. I just think it would be a huge shame to let beautiful Irish language names die out for that reason. I know of am Irish American couple who wanted to call their daughter Sinead but decided to make it pronouncable and spelled it Shinade. That's way worse IMO!

sachamama

Shinade reminds me of lucozade ! type of lemonade.

LordSutch

Some Irish girl names that I like

Aisling
Sinead
Orlaith
Tara
Shannon
Siobhan
Enya
Fallon
Clodagh

Some Irish girl names I dislike

Aiobheann
Aoibhe
Medbh
Caoimhe
Caoimhleann
Dympna
Saoirse
Clidhna
Gobnait

DUBACC

Camelot, i love your list.

I think we should be trying to keep our irish names alive instead of going for some foreign names (pablo, as a friend of mine called his unfortunate son), american soap names (Blake, Summer, Madison, Holly) or weed-smoking hippy ones (Sky, Sun, Moon, Rain, Thunder, Lightning or whatever you're having yerself!):rolleyes::D

jimmmy

Melion wrote: »

Please dont call your child Qaoimhe or Queeva. Its Caoimhe, its not hard to spell or pronounce.

Bet some people will think its sometimes spelt Ceeve or Quoive ? Irish language names can be a bit difficult. I knew a girl once nicknamed Shove-on ( as in shove on your .......). Best to think what the child themselves would like best, especially if they had to emigrate and not have to spell out their name at every time its requested / needs to be written.

steps_3314

We called our daughter Naoise

Born 05.01.2009

fiona stephanie wrote: »

we have a few picked out but cant choose between them!!


Girls
1. Sadhbh
2. Naoise
3. Qaoimhe


Boys
1. Sean
2. Senan
3. Tadgh

im sure you can tell from my choices that i like Irish names, if anyone has any more nice ones to add to the list feel free!

wexford202

I am going for Billy if a boy and Ellie or Lilly for a girl.

enilec

steps_3314 wrote: »

We called our daughter Naoise

Born 05.01.2009

Wasn't Naoise originally a boy's name? (The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu/ Deirdre of the Sorrows). Or was it always a unisex name? I've seen it come up on these forums many times as a girl's name. It is a quite feminine sounding name & that's why my OH doesn't want to name our son Naoise. Would suit a boy or girl IMO.

lolli

steps_3314 wrote: »

We called our daughter Naoise

Born 05.01.2009

Congrats, my lil sister is called Naoise love the name. Have a baby on the way now no idea what to call her

Lillylilly

Myself and my boy aren't planning on having babies for another two years or so but have already agreed on names-

Zion Arabella for our first born daughter and Indigo for our first son.
Jazz is reserved if we have a second son. We've always steered towards the unusual but I don't feel that they're skanky or "celebish"!!

I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised at the amount of people who have chosen Irish names. I thought it was a tradition that was dying out!

Moonbeam

Naoise was traditionally a boys name but it has come to be used for both over the years.
It is a lovely name.

steps_3314 - my little girl is 5 days older:)

We called her Dearbhail

lolli

Moonbeam wrote: »

We called her Dearbhail

Rach, come up with a few names for me would you Dearbail is a gorg name.

My Oh has his heart set on Emily, I like it but I would like something thats not used as much. We also thought of Willow. My family like it but his hate it.

I love Juliet but everyone says she'd be asked her whole life where is Romeo.... so I dunno

steps_3314

Moonbeam wrote: »

Naoise was traditionally a boys name but it has come to be used for both over the years.
It is a lovely name.

steps_3314 - my little girl is 5 days older:)

We called her Dearbhail

So she was born on New Years eve...cool

Dearbhail is also lovely

steps_3314

enilec wrote: »

Wasn't Naoise originally a boy's name? (The Exile of the Sons of Uisliu/ Deirdre of the Sorrows). Or was it always a unisex name? I've seen it come up on these forums many times as a girl's name. It is a quite feminine sounding name & that's why my OH doesn't want to name our son Naoise. Would suit a boy or girl IMO.

My OH did some research at the time and yes it was originally a boys name but is becomming more popular with girls.

Personally if i didnt know and was asked id probably think it was a girls name.

Either way boy or girl...i like it

enilec

lolli wrote: »

Rach, come up with a few names for me would you Dearbail is a gorg name.

My Oh has his heart set on Emily, I like it but I would like something thats not used as much. We also thought of Willow. My family like it but his hate it.

I love Juliet but everyone says she'd be asked her whole life where is Romeo.... so I dunno

Willow is lovely. If she was named Juliette she WOULD be asked "where's Romeo?" all her life. Some people think they're so funny & original when they come out with things like that. My first name is the same as a very well known powerhouse singer & I am constantly asked if I can sing... it's very tiresome. (This happened a lot when I wore a name badge in a previous job).

smokingman

Come December, we'll probably have either a Finn, Noah or maybe a Faith if it's a girl.

enilec

steps_3314 wrote: »

Either way boy or girl...i like it

Me too, unfortunately I can't use it

lolli

Ooh Juliette is lovely thanks

People can be so annoying about names.

I told my brother that I liked the name Layla-Rose and he asked me was Bob Geldof going to be a dad again ha.