Irish name pronounciation: Aodhán

Cee-Jay-Cee

I dont have any irish and so cant post this in the Irish speaking section so apologies for that...anyway, our baby is due now in the next week or two and we really like the name Aidan but would like to spell it Aodhán. Will this cause confusion for the child, in that the proper pronounciation is Ay-Dawn? Or is there an irish spelling thats pronounced Aidan, like Aedan or Aodán.

Any help is appreciated

copacetic

eh-din, eeh-dawn.

spurious

I always feel sorry for kids who have to constantly spell or correct people's pronunciation of their name - why can't you just use Aidan?

Diabhal Beag

Aid-on

The Big Red Button

I think it's pronounced "Ay-Gawn"?

Why not just go with Aidan, if you like it so much? It's a much much nicer name!

amiable

spurious wrote: »

I always feel sorry for kids who have to constantly spell or correct people's pronunciation of their name - why can't you just use Aidan?

Great strong name. Genuinely love it

alwaysadub

I know an Aodán(he doesn't spell it with the h) and seeing the name written down before knowing how to pronounce it was a bit difficult to be honest! He's from the Gaeltacht though so suppose it was easy enough for people around him to pronounce.
I think it's a nice name too

TanG411

First syllable the same way you'd pronounce 'Day', just leave out the D sound.

Last syllable sound as 'Dawn'.

starlit

Try 'AAY Dounn' or aay down

dr.bollocko

Moved from AH. I think this is the right place.
(hopefully)

4zn76tysfajdxp

Why are you giving your baby a name you can't pronounce?

Cee-Jay-Cee

We can pronounce it...we wanted to know could we get away calling him (if its a boy) Aidan but spell it Aodhán without causing confusion, but it looks like we cant and so we'll go with spelling it Aidan...its just Aodhán looks so good on paper IMO...

Jev/N

Have a friend with the name whose fluent in Irish, its pronounced Ay-Dawhn

The Big Red Button

CJC999 wrote: »

We can pronounce it...we wanted to know could we get away calling him (if its a boy) Aidan but spell it Aodhán without causing confusion, but it looks like we cant and so we'll go with spelling it Aidan...its just Aodhán looks so good on paper IMO...

But you see, what you should understand is that if you called him Aodhán and pronounced it as Aidan, it's you that would be confused about the pronunciation - not anyone else!

You can't make up pronunciations of names that have been around for years just to suit yourself, and then think that everyone else is "confused" for pronouncing it "wrong"!

If you want to call him Aidan, call him Aidan, and spell and pronounce it that way. It's a lovely name, nothing wrong with it. And no confusion!

syklops

CJC999 wrote: »

We can pronounce it...we wanted to know could we get away calling him (if its a boy) Aidan but spell it Aodhán without causing confusion, but it looks like we cant and so we'll go with spelling it Aidan...its just Aodhán looks so good on paper IMO...

I dont mean to sound flippant, but lets see how good it looks on paper twenty years from now when he is backpacking through asia and he is stuck at some small airport because they cant get their head around the spelling of his name.

Not to mention him putting up with his name being mis-spelled or mis-pronounced for the next 100 years. Fine if you think he is going to live in the gaeltacht for the rest of his life, but in this new globalized world of ours, there is a decent chance he might go else where at some point.

My mother had to have her passport renewed. The form came in Irish so, being a fluent speaker, she filled it out in Irish including the irish version of her name. When putting it into the envelope, she realised it was English on one side, but thought little of it. At the time she was flying at least once a week to various countries, and since getting the new Irish passport, she got stopped and delayed at every single airport. After being refused on a flight in Heathrow, she went to the embassy to ask them what the hell was going on, and she was told, that for the most case the only people who had their passports in Irish were members of the diplomatic corps, and members of the IRA. She got applied for a new one in English when she got home.

Krusader

^^^^^

Someone facepalm this post, other tripe

TanG411

syklops wrote: »

I dont mean to sound flippant, but lets see how good it looks on paper twenty years from now when he is backpacking through asia and he is stuck at some small airport because they cant get their head around the spelling of his name.

Not to mention him putting up with his name being mis-spelled or mis-pronounced for the next 100 years. Fine if you think he is going to live in the gaeltacht for the rest of his life, but in this new globalized world of ours, there is a decent chance he might go else where at some point.

My mother had to have her passport renewed. The form came in Irish so, being a fluent speaker, she filled it out in Irish including the irish version of her name. When putting it into the envelope, she realised it was English on one side, but thought little of it. At the time she was flying at least once a week to various countries, and since getting the new Irish passport, she got stopped and delayed at every single airport. After being refused on a flight in Heathrow, she went to the embassy to ask them what the hell was going on, and she was told, that for the most case the only people who had their passports in Irish were members of the diplomatic corps, and members of the IRA. She got applied for a new one in English when she got home.

So anybody with an Irish name is not allowed to leave Ireland?

OP, quick! Don't use Aodhán!! Think of the children!

Seriously though, times will change in twenty years time.

Cee-Jay-Cee

syklops wrote: »

I dont mean to sound flippant, but lets see how good it looks on paper twenty years from now when he is backpacking through asia and he is stuck at some small airport because they cant get their head around the spelling of his name.

Not to mention him putting up with his name being mis-spelled or mis-pronounced for the next 100 years. Fine if you think he is going to live in the gaeltacht for the rest of his life, but in this new globalized world of ours, there is a decent chance he might go else where at some point.

My mother had to have her passport renewed. The form came in Irish so, being a fluent speaker, she filled it out in Irish including the irish version of her name. When putting it into the envelope, she realised it was English on one side, but thought little of it. At the time she was flying at least once a week to various countries, and since getting the new Irish passport, she got stopped and delayed at every single airport. After being refused on a flight in Heathrow, she went to the embassy to ask them what the hell was going on, and she was told, that for the most case the only people who had their passports in Irish were members of the diplomatic corps, and members of the IRA. She got applied for a new one in English when she got home.

I'm sorry but thats just ridiculous...so just because someone cannot pronounce a name means theyre going to be held up at an airport...have you actually thought about what you've just said!!! There are asian names that have no vowels and have letters that you would never put together, there are swedish/finnish names that have in excess of 20 letters that no one but people from those countries can pronounce and they have no problems at airports....you may not be well travelled and not been in many airports...i have, and i have never been asked to confirm my name against that in my passport, they scan the passport, check the photo looks like the holder and wave you through...name pronounciation does not come into it.

I already stated we were merely looking at the possibility of spelling the name Aodhán yet pronouncing it Aidan...i got the answers i looked for and we will now go with the regular spelling so as not to cause confusion to the child in later years.

Saying all that, my name is Carl, no one can spell it, i get Karl, Karol, Carol, Carel and various other spellings. I get equally as many people who dont recognise the name when i tell them it and think i've said Gary, Earl, Darren and on one occasion Terry, now that may be my accent or whatever but i'm so aware of people not knowing the name that when i'm asked i tell them it and spell it immediately.

shinikins

I have a friend named Aodhán, who prounouces it Aidan. My own name (Sinéad) can be said in many different ways(one that really peeves me is "Shin-ay-ddhh" there's no bloody "dhh" sound at the end of my name!!!)

At the end of the day OP Aodhán/Áedán is the more traditional way of spelling the name, and Aidan is the Anglicized way of spelling it. So if you want to put Aodhan on the childs birth cert and pronounce it Aidan, you have every right to. And the child will just accept that that is how his name is spelled.

Aard

Thread fail due to lack of IPA or Sampa. When English spelling approximations of Irish sounds are used, everybody ends up confused.

syklops

Crosáidí wrote: »

^^^^^

Someone facepalm this post, other tripe

Care to be more specific?

I'm sorry but thats just ridiculous...so just because someone cannot pronounce a name means theyre going to be held up at an airport...have you actually thought about what you've just said!!! There are asian names that have no vowels and have letters that you would never put together, there are swedish/finnish names that have in excess of 20 letters that no one but people from those countries can pronounce and they have no problems at airports....you may not be well travelled and not been in many airports...i have, and i have never been asked to confirm my name against that in my passport, they scan the passport, check the photo looks like the holder and wave you through...name pronounciation does not come into it.

I have been in lots of airports and consider myself well traveled, and the more I have traveled the more problems I have seen arise with issues involving names, and their spelling.

My Fiancee recently had some money wired to her by Western Union from home, she goes by the shorter, easier to spell version of her name, but the way her name is spelt on her passport is the longer more traditional spelling. Western Union wouldn't give her the money because her names didn't match up. She had to call home and ask them to change the name on the transaction, which cost 30 euro to do.

She has recently had her name changed to the shorter version, to prevent hassle like this.

Seriously though, times will change in twenty years time.

Look at how air travel has changed in the last 20 years. It has become alot cheaper, but security restrictions have tightened, and they will continue to tighten. Discrepancies, and confusion can cause problems for you, often when you least expect them or least need them. Save the kid the hassle.

Krusader

syklops wrote: »

Care to be more specific?


My Fiancee recently had some money wired to her by Western Union from home, she goes by the shorter, easier to spell version of her name, but the way her name is spelt on her passport is the longer more traditional spelling. Western Union wouldn't give her the money because her names didn't match up. She had to call home and ask them to change the name on the transaction, which cost 30 euro to do.

She has recently had her name changed to the shorter version, to prevent hassle like this.

Well thats your fiancé's fault, she should of used the name that was on her form of ID, how are foreigners suppose to know the intricates of Gaelic spelling and the spelling reform

To not give a child an Irish name because he might get stopped by Airport security a few times in his life is a ridiculous reasoning, sure I have a foreign name and I've never had a problem with airport security in Ireland or and anywhere else

syklops

Crosáidí wrote: »

To not give a child an Irish name because he might get stopped by Airport security a few times in his life is a ridiculous reasoning, sure I have a foreign name and I've never had a problem with airport security in Ireland or and anywhere else

I have nothing against using an irish name, but the OP wants to spell it differently to how it is pronounced, for the sake of it looking good on paper. Surely that is just as ridiculous?

Gael

CJC999 wrote: »

We can pronounce it...we wanted to know could we get away calling him (if its a boy) Aidan but spell it Aodhán without causing confusion, but it looks like we cant and so we'll go with spelling it Aidan...its just Aodhán looks so good on paper IMO...

Get away calling him Aidan? If you want to call him Aidan, call him Aidan. Don't burden the poor child for life with a written name that's not the same as the name they're called in reality. I'm all for giving kids Irish names, but this kind of stuff makes me want to call the ISPCC.

eden_my_ass

Duplicate post...

eden_my_ass

Hate to burst another bubble but most likely Aidan will spend his life correcting the spelling Aiden anyway, as for a strange reason this is what most people hear and write, its not just about the pronounciation! Sorry

An gal gréine

syklops wrote: »

I dont mean to sound flippant, but lets see how good it looks on paper twenty years from now when he is backpacking through asia and he is stuck at some small airport because they cant get their head around the spelling of his name.

Not to mention him putting up with his name being mis-spelled or mis-pronounced for the next 100 years. Fine if you think he is going to live in the gaeltacht for the rest of his life, but in this new globalized world of ours, there is a decent chance he might go else where at some point.

My mother had to have her passport renewed. The form came in Irish so, being a fluent speaker, she filled it out in Irish including the irish version of her name. When putting it into the envelope, she realised it was English on one side, but thought little of it. At the time she was flying at least once a week to various countries, and since getting the new Irish passport, she got stopped and delayed at every single airport. After being refused on a flight in Heathrow, she went to the embassy to ask them what the hell was going on, and she was told, that for the most case the only people who had their passports in Irish were members of the diplomatic corps, and members of the IRA. She got applied for a new one in English when she got home.

You can be sure of one thing, even in a small airport in Asia, they'll have no problem with the spelling of your name because they will simply accept what's written in front of them.
I have never had a problem in the U.K. or anywhere else for that matter with my Passport with my details in Irish nor have I heard of any such case ...till now. You dont specify if they refused her ONTO the plane or refused her something on the plane. If it's the former, she should be taking this much further, this only happens to people who are already blacklisted...maybe she shares a name with somesuch?

deise go deo

syklops wrote: »

I dont mean to sound flippant, but lets see how good it looks on paper twenty years from now when he is backpacking through asia and he is stuck at some small airport because they cant get their head around the spelling of his name.

Not to mention him putting up with his name being mis-spelled or mis-pronounced for the next 100 years. Fine if you think he is going to live in the gaeltacht for the rest of his life, but in this new globalized world of ours, there is a decent chance he might go else where at some point.

My mother had to have her passport renewed. The form came in Irish so, being a fluent speaker, she filled it out in Irish including the irish version of her name. When putting it into the envelope, she realised it was English on one side, but thought little of it. At the time she was flying at least once a week to various countries, and since getting the new Irish passport, she got stopped and delayed at every single airport. After being refused on a flight in Heathrow, she went to the embassy to ask them what the hell was going on, and she was told, that for the most case the only people who had their passports in Irish were members of the diplomatic corps, and members of the IRA. She got applied for a new one in English when she got home.

Oh dear, there is nothing wrong with haveing your name in Irish, Lots of people with an intrest in the Language use the Irish version of their name.

My driveing licence is in Irish and Im not even in the ra:eek:

If you like the name Aodhán then use it, It will be a great conversation starter when he goes on holidays;)

thomas353

call him paddy

Cat82

The OP mentions the name Áedán. How is this pronounced? I've never come across that spelling of the name before. Aiden is such a lovely strong name.

Crosáidí

Crosáidí wrote: »

Well thats your fiancé's fault, she should of used the name that was on her form of ID, how are foreigners suppose to know the intricates of Gaelic spelling and the spelling reform

To not give a child an Irish name because he might get stopped by Airport security a few times in his life is a ridiculous reasoning, sure I have a foreign name and I've never had a problem with airport security in Ireland or and anywhere else

Indeed, my mother has a very unusual drawn out irish name (never come across anyone else using the same one) and she is careful to use the same one as on her passport. It's like having people send it to a nickname not corresponding to your passport name - of course there's an issue.

OP this reminds me of an american I met called Eoghan - his parents thought this was "Egan" !!!
If you want Aidan use Aidan not Aodhan!

Enkidu

syklops wrote: »

I dont mean to sound flippant, but lets see how good it looks on paper twenty years from now when he is backpacking through asia and he is stuck at some small airport because they cant get their head around the spelling of his name.

Oh come on! You think if the kid is stuck in some airport in China or Loas that they'll suddenly be confused by an Irish name? Every Western name looks confusing to them, just like I have no idea how exactly to pronounce Kuang Xiaoping. An Irish name is no different to them than a French name. It would be like our airport officials being okay with Han names and flummoxed by Manchu names.

shinikins

Cat82 wrote: »

The OP mentions the name Áedán. How is this pronounced? I've never come across that spelling of the name before. Aiden is such a lovely strong name.

Its pronounced in exactly the same way as Aidan, Aodhan, Aden, Ayden, Aedyn, Aydyn, the list goes on.

At then end of the day, if the OP likes the spelling they should use that. People are going to misinterpret names at will, i've once been called Chantelle. How they got that from Sinead i don't know, and the amount of people who choose to call me Siobhan is unreal-and thats other Irish people! There are tons of different spellings for different irish names, but they all end up sounding the same when spoken.

Oh, and i'm extremely well travelled and never once have i had a problem with my name being written in the Irish form!

Toyota_Avensis

Hi OP. I'm delighted to hear you're considering naming your son after an Irish name. I wished more of us done so, instead of all the English influence of names. Aodhán is a lovely way to spell it, and as you said, looks great on paper. Did you consider going the whole hog, and using the Irish version of your surname also?! For example; Aodhán Mac Suibhne looks and sounds much better than Aodhán Sweeney. From experience, I reckon this is worth considering because if people understand he has an Irish second name, they will have a far greater understanding and more at ease with the idea of having an Irish first name spelling. Worth considering IMO.. More of us should be doing it I reckon.

An gal gréine

In Donegal the "h" is pronounced in Aodhán to give the sound of IAN.
Aodán is for for Aidan/Aiden.
Hope this does'nt confuse matters further!