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Surname Translation

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  • 25-06-2012 11:15am
    #1
    surname_help
    Registered Users Posts: 3 ✭


    Hi there... I was wondering if anyone could help me?

    I would like to get an Irish translation of the name Annette to be used as a (female) surname... I have seen the first name translated as Eithneín but I'm not sure if this is suitable as a surname or how to pronounce it!

    Any assistance would be much appreciated!


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    #2
    P. Breathnach
    Registered Users Posts: 12,089 ✭✭✭✭P. Breathnach


    Do you mean surname?


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    #3
    surname_help
    Registered Users Posts: 3 ✭surname_help


    Yes surname please. I can find translations for the first name Annette but not the surname, I'm not sure if it would require any prefixes, if it would be completely different or how it would be pronounced.

    Thank you!


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    #4
    P. Breathnach
    Registered Users Posts: 12,089 ✭✭✭✭P. Breathnach


    Why would you force a Gaelicisation of a surname that does not exist in Irish tradition?

    I'd approach it this way: if somebody with the family name Annette went to live in a purely Irish-speaking community (no longer available as a real option), what might the locals call him or her? I'd suggest Ainéad, pronounced something like ANN-EY-udh. In effect, impose Irish phonics on the name, but otherwise leave it alone.


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    #5
    surname_help
    Registered Users Posts: 3 ✭surname_help


    I didn't assume that it didn't exist just because I couldn't find a translation for it.

    Thanks again.


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    #6
    somairle
    Closed Accounts Posts: 92 ✭✭somairle


    surname_help wrote: »
    Hi there... I was wondering if anyone could help me?

    I would like to get an Irish translation of the name Annette to be used as a (female) surname... I have seen the first name translated as Eithneín but I'm not sure if this is suitable as a surname or how to pronounce it!

    Any assistance would be much appreciated!

    Never heard of annette in Irish. Is ette added from french to mean small/ little in the way ín does does in Irish? In which case Áine is Ann perhaps you could try something with that, Áinín!? p. Breathnachs suggestion looks more viable though. If your making it a Gaelic surname I wouldnt recommend putting a prefix such as Mac or Nic before it as a lot of foreign names (in origin) wouldnt.

    Im not passing judgement but as someone myself who Gaelicised my non-Gaelic name for a number of years while I was big into learning Irish, I do not recommend it if this is for something official.


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    #7
    Gumbi
    Registered Users Posts: 4,698 ✭✭✭Gumbi


    I would note that you are not "translating" your name, but merely creating a phonetic rendering of it in Irish. Names don't actually "translate".


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