The most unusual Irish name you ever came across

iamwhoiam · 14-07-2011 05:23PM

bnt wrote: »

Since I'm not Irish, you might find it hard to imagine what I thought when I saw some of the names on Election posters. In 2002, Niamh Bhreathnach stood for TD in Dún Laoghaire, trying to get her old seat back. I saw that name on the poster and burst out laughing ... I didn't know you had Klingons running for office?

?"

I genuinely dont know what you find funny about Niamh Bhreathnach . It would be like me arriving in Russia and finding their names hilarious ?? Or am I misunderstanding ?

Badly Drunk Boy · 14-07-2011 07:01PM

LordSutch wrote: »

Bosco (1980s puppet on RTE), I don't know if it really exists as an adult name

Surely it was just made up for the show?

When I was at school, one of the teachers was called Brother Bosco. And it wasn't a nickname from the kid's programme.

I have a nephew called Oran, the proper Irish version being Odhran, and I went to school with a lad called Ernan.

Of the unusual names mentioned already, I have a cousin called Olan, an ex-colleague calles Maolíosa, and there was another lad from school called Ultan.

buzsywuzsy · 14-07-2011 07:54PM

I didn't see the name Naoise mentioned- Can be used for both male/female.
Pronounced Nay-sha- Boy
Nee- sha- Girl

Only came across the name Iseult for the first time this year too!

wonderfulname · 14-07-2011 08:27PM

iamwhoiam wrote: »

I genuinely dont know what you find funny about Niamh Bhreathnach . It would be like me arriving in Russia and finding their names hilarious ?? Or am I misunderstanding ?

If you think Klingon and read it it actually is funny in all fairness.

Dyr · 14-07-2011 08:57PM

Fearganainm is my favourite, although i've never met anyone who was actually called that

tallaghtmick · 14-07-2011 09:30PM

Bambi wrote: »

Fearganainm is my favourite, although i've never met anyone who was actually called that

fear gan ainm

man without name

PhoenixParker · 14-07-2011 09:48PM

For names like Niamh and Siobhan, I never had a problem with foreigners pronouncing them once I said mh and bh are pronounced V in Irish. They got it straight away then.

Most unusual name I've come across lately is Aebhric which I've come across in two different people recently. Never heard it before.

Dyr · 14-07-2011 09:55PM

tallaghtmick wrote: »

fear gan ainm

man without name

If you hadn't added those spaces i would never have noticed :P

Micilin Muc · 14-07-2011 10:00PM

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

i worked with a fella in bewleys called uscar and his brother coillte

Oscar and Caoilte, I know them too!

ballsymchugh wrote: »

know a girl from armagh called fainche. doesn't have an english equivalent as far as i know

Fainche was the sister of St. Enda.

ballsymchugh wrote: »

feilim = philip

milehip1 wrote: »

feilim is irish for felix

Féilim is just Felim in English.

Rhalliord · 14-07-2011 10:05PM

MrsD007 wrote: »

Cara Iosa - "Friend of God" (Girl's name)
Tola - was an Irish Saint (Boy's name)
Bronagh - "Sorrowful one" (Girl's name)
Laoise - Irish version of Louise

to be honest with you I hate that they have dumbed down Laoise. I was christened the old irish way of it as Labhaoise now its all Laoise. I dont like it

Rhalliord · 14-07-2011 10:14PM

PhoenixParker wrote: »

For names like Niamh and Siobhan, I never had a problem with foreigners pronouncing them once I said mh and bh are pronounced V in Irish. They got it straight away then.

Most unusual name I've come across lately is Aebhric which I've come across in two different people recently. Never heard it before.

not all bh's are pronounced as v's. The bh in Labhaoise is silent.

Jess16 · 14-07-2011 11:41PM

I know a teacher in the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht called Slánna (she pronounces it 'slaw-nya') and I have a friend called Ruadhán ('roo-awn') 'Rua' being derivative of old Irish for natural shades of red. If only he was ginger! (: I also know a Siarlaith ('seer-la') who's name has become the bane of her life. I have no idea of the origins of either Slánna or Siarlaith though it's likely that the stem 'Slán' may be a reference to safety/health and 'Siar' to the West.

DualFrontDiscs · 15-07-2011 12:00AM

I know someone called "Garfield', non US feline source, apparently old English/ Irish, maybe?

PhoenixParker · 15-07-2011 12:14AM

Rhalliord wrote: »

not all bh's are pronounced as v's. The bh in Labhaoise is silent.

And some are pronounced w as are some mh's, for the purposes of explaining a whole variety of Irish name pronunciation to foreigners it works quite well though.

AhSureTisGrand · 15-07-2011 12:31AM

anawfulbogey wrote: »

We're currently expecting our first child and the names we have picked are Tadhg for a boy and Aoibhínn for a girl. I noticed they came up in this thread and I have to say it alarms me that Irish people would or could consider traditional names in the only language truly native to this island to be in any way 'unusual'. There is a disturbingly colonial mentality in this country tbh.

What? "Ebeneezer" is a traditional name in the English language, but English people are allowed say it's a feckin' odd name

PhoenixParker · 15-07-2011 12:47AM

anawfulbogey wrote: »

We're currently expecting our first child and the names we have picked are Tadhg for a boy and Aoibhínn for a girl. I noticed they came up in this thread and I have to say it alarms me that Irish people would or could consider traditional names in the only language truly native to this island to be in any way 'unusual'. There is a disturbingly colonial mentality in this country tbh.

And how many Aoibheanns and Tadhgs are on the 1911 census for instance?
For all the traditional irishness of it, there's only one Niamh documented, and judging from the entry, Dublin based enthusiastic Gaelgoirs were responsible.

Traditional Irish names are derived from traditional Irish fairytales. Cinderella and Rapunzel don't qualify as traditional names either. Irish names are lovely names, but they're also a rather modern innovation.

If you want a really traditional Irish name, pick a saints name.

flanum · 15-07-2011 02:33AM

i saw earlier in the thread "uileann" as a name .. what ? elbow?? and on the same vein.. i know of a young up and coming female uileann piper called "banba" (old irish name for ireland).. and also the uisce fella that posted here... is he the same uisce that used to serve pints in shoot the crows in sligo?

fontanalis · 15-07-2011 02:02PM

PhoenixParker wrote: »

And how many Aoibheanns and Tadhgs are on the 1911 census for instance?
For all the traditional irishness of it, there's only one Niamh documented, and judging from the entry, Dublin based enthusiastic Gaelgoirs were responsible.

Traditional Irish names are derived from traditional Irish fairytales. Cinderella and Rapunzel don't qualify as traditional names either. Irish names are lovely names, but they're also a rather modern innovation.

If you want a really traditional Irish name, pick a saints name.

??

Apanachi · 15-07-2011 02:43PM

anawfulbogey wrote: »

We're currently expecting our first child and the names we have picked are Tadhg for a boy and Aoibhínn for a girl. I noticed they came up in this thread and I have to say it alarms me that Irish people would or could consider traditional names in the only language truly native to this island to be in any way 'unusual'. There is a disturbingly colonial mentality in this country tbh.

Tadhg was on the top of my list of names for my baby (had she have been a boy), but I quickly changed my mind as I live in germany and the name Tadhg sounds like the German name for pastry/dough.

If I was in Ireland though (or possible any other non-German speaking country) I'd go for it, I thinkk it's a lovely name (as is Aoibhínn - although my favorite Irish name for a girl is Caoimhe - but once again living in Germany complicated things a bit

)

anawfulbogey · 15-07-2011 02:55PM

PhoenixParker wrote: »

And how many Aoibheanns and Tadhgs are on the 1911 census for instance?
For all the traditional irishness of it, there's only one Niamh documented, and judging from the entry, Dublin based enthusiastic Gaelgoirs were responsible.

Traditional Irish names are derived from traditional Irish fairytales. Cinderella and Rapunzel don't qualify as traditional names either. Irish names are lovely names, but they're also a rather modern innovation.

If you want a really traditional Irish name, pick a saints name.

Yeah the Church. An Irish institution we can be proud of. Re: the 1911 census, The famine had all but killed off the spoken language just over a generation ago and the Gaelic Revival was pretty much confined to an elite at
that point so I dont know how reliable an indice it is.

iamwhoiam · 15-07-2011 03:09PM

Apanachi wrote: »

Tadhg was on the top of my list of names for my baby (had she have been a boy), but I quickly changed my mind as I live in germany and the name Tadhg sounds like the German name for pastry/dough.

If I was in Ireland though (or possible any other non-German speaking country) I'd go for it, I thinkk it's a lovely name (as is Aoibhínn - although my favorite Irish name for a girl is Caoimhe - but once again living in Germany complicated things a bit )

For that very reason I didnt name my baby Orla all those years ago and it sounded like Ohrloch to the Germans !!
Tadhg is lovely , I know at least three Tadhgs and its widely used in West Cork .

iamwhoiam · 15-07-2011 03:12PM

PhoenixParker wrote: »

And how many Aoibheanns and Tadhgs are on the 1911 census for instance?
For all the traditional irishness of it, there's only one Niamh documented, and judging from the entry, Dublin based enthusiastic Gaelgoirs were responsible.

Traditional Irish names are derived from traditional Irish fairytales. Cinderella and Rapunzel don't qualify as traditional names either. Irish names are lovely names, but they're also a rather modern innovation.

If you want a really traditional Irish name, pick a saints name.

The reason they are not in the 1911 census is because of huge British influence .
The older ancient names , ie Niamh , Cian , Fionnuala , Gráinne , Tadgh are by no means a modern innovation , they simply were not used at a certain time in history .

punchdrunk · 15-07-2011 03:40PM

Enagh:a girls name

I like it

paperclip2 · 15-07-2011 03:43PM

Daraerca and Siobhradh

miketv · 15-07-2011 03:44PM

Nirvana

fontanalis · 15-07-2011 03:47PM

Anyone know any Setantas. Cool name!

anawfulbogey · 15-07-2011 03:49PM

fontanalis wrote: »

Anyone know any Setantas. Cool name!

Ó Hailpín? Ex Cork hurler now Aussie football player.

iamwhoiam · 15-07-2011 04:37PM

fontanalis wrote: »

Anyone know any Setantas. Cool name!

Amanda Brunkers son is Setanta ., Not sure if that a good or a bad thing !!!!

Raic · 15-07-2011 04:44PM

Ghost Buster wrote: »

Came across a 'Sean' the other day with the most convaluted "Celtic +" spelling ever. new to me...
'Seaghan' with a fada over both A's

I was waiting for this to come up as my name is Seaghán (just the one síneadh fada). Seaghán, Seághán, Seaghan are all found variants of each other. It's a more traditional spelling of Seán and it comes from the Norman French "Jehan" (Modern "Jean") which originally had 2 syllables... If you check the 1911 census you'll see that its usage (987) greatly outnumbers that of Seán (149), though I'd say the Irish language spelling reform in 1948 really shook things up. Anyway, personally I find "Seaghán" too be far more aesthetically pleasing even when typed... but especially in the seanachló (Gaelic script) which is the way I write it.

What I don't understand is the attitude some people in this thread have to traditional Irish names. Some people seem to think it's a crime to give a child a name which a monoglot English speaker has trouble pronouncing without prompting but I find this mentality troubling. What about people with foreign names? The pronunciation of foreign names often doesn't conform to the expectations of monoglot English speakers and yet should people with such names have to take flak over this? No, people should respect the way their names are spelt and pronounce them as such... the same principle should apply to Irish names with people unfamiliar with the language. You can't expect the same letter to play the same role in every language and the pronunciations of names minority languages deserve respect too.

iamwhoiam · 15-07-2011 04:59PM

Raic wrote: »

I was waiting for this to come up as my name is Seaghán (just the one síneadh fada). Seaghán, Seághán, Seaghan are all found variants of each other. It's a more traditional spelling of Seán and it comes from the Norman French "Jehan" (Modern "Jean") which originally had 2 syllables... If you check the 1911 census you'll see that its usage (987) greatly outnumbers that of Seán (149), though I'd say the Irish language spelling reform in 1948 really shook things up. Anyway, personally I find "Seaghán" too be far more aesthetically pleasing even when typed... but especially in the seanachló (Gaelic script) which is the way I write it.

What I don't understand is the attitude some people in this thread have to traditional Irish names. Some people seem to think it's a crime to give a child a name which a monoglot English speaker has trouble pronouncing without prompting but I find this mentality troubling. What about people with foreign names? The pronunciation of foreign names often doesn't conform to the expectations of monoglot English speakers and yet should people with such names have to take flak over this? No, people should respect the way their names are spelt and pronounce them as such... the same principle should apply to Irish names with people unfamiliar with the language. You can't expect the same letter to play the same role in every language and the pronunciations of names minority languages deserve respect too.

I absolutely agree with you ,I have a very traditional old Irish , odd spelling name .I had less bother with it when I worked in Germany than I sometimes have here .I would pronounce a few times , they would listen and say it beautifully , no problem

By the way I love the name Seaghán , its so old and Irish and I love all our traditional unique names .

The most unusual Irish name you ever came across

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