nav[aria-label="Primary Navigation"] { padding: 0; & ul { list-style: none; width: 100%; display: flex; flex-direction: row; justify-content: start; align-items: start; gap: 30px; padding: 0; & li { margin: 0; } & ul li { list-style: none; } } }

Child Item

Americanized Anglasized Irish Names

Skerries

The Irish surname has gone through a good few changes down the centuries with the British changing our Irish names to something that they could pronounce but then when we emigrated to America during the famine it changed again in pronunciation if not in spelling.

So we have names like Moran being pronounced more-an or Doherty being pronounced Dokerty or Gallagher as Gallager

but I am still confused as to one name, the name Shaughnessy!
what is the socially acceptable current Irish way to pronounce it, is it shawnessy or shocknessy?

Find more posts tagged with

Quick Links

Comments

Aineoil

Bandon?

Eeden

FatherTed wrote: »

My daughter's friend is named after a town in Cork. Really she is.
3 claps for whoever can guess her name.

Ah, poor old New Two Pot House....

My name is URL

FatherTed wrote: »

My daughter's friend is named after a town in Cork. Really she is.
3 claps for whoever can guess her name.

Dripsey?

endacl

FatherTed wrote: »

My daughter's friend is named after a town in Cork. Really she is.
3 claps for whoever can guess her name.

Surely not Halfway?!?

cameramonkey

FatherTed wrote: »

My daughter's friend is named after a town in Cork. Really she is.
3 claps for whoever can guess her name.

Gougane Barra?

FatherTed

My daughter's friend is named after a town in Cork. Really she is.
3 claps for whoever can guess her name.

P. Breathnach

seamus wrote: »

Strictly speaking, a name is a name, if it's spelled differently, it's a different name. John/Eoin might share the same root like John and Juan, but they're still different names.

Translating someone's name into a different language is not only completely incorrect, it's actually incredibly rude unless they do it themselves. You call someone by their given name, not by anything else unless they tell you to. I think that's pretty much a globally constant social rule.

It's this curious thing us Irish do. Probably comes from the attempted forced Gaelicisation of children in primary.

I broadly agree, but would point out that the origin of the habit goes back a bit earlier, to the anglicisation imposed in schools in the 19th century. I know that some of my ancestors went to school as monoglot Gaelic speakers, and were educated solely through English.

Myles na gCopaleen sent the tradition up in An Béal Bocht, where all the boys in the school were given the name "Jams O'Donnell".

seamus

endacl wrote: »

No they don't. There's no English version of Seán. John is Eoin.

Strictly speaking, a name is a name, if it's spelled differently, it's a different name. John/Eoin might share the same root like John and Juan, but they're still different names.

Translating someone's name into a different language is not only completely incorrect, it's actually incredibly rude unless they do it themselves. You call someone by their given name, not by anything else unless they tell you to. I think that's pretty much a globally constant social rule.

It's this curious thing us Irish do. Probably comes from the attempted forced Gaelicisation of children in primary.

Rhys Essien

dxhound2005 wrote: »

Would you like to explain to the tatooed one with a penchant for celebrating jailbirds when he scores that he does not know how to say his own name correctly.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-524734/Fury-Everton-footballer-Tim-Cahills-pitch-gesture-solidarity-thug-brother-left-man-blinded.html

I find it amazing that some people think they know how to pronounce someone's name better than the actual owner of the name. Just accept that there are thousands of words with more than one pronunciation, including some first names and some family names.

Both these players are of Irish extraction and Cahill in Ireland is not K-hill.Its just laziness on both these players part that they do not correct their surname being said.

Another one I have heard was the British media refer to actor Cillian Murphy and soccer player Cillian Sheridan as Silly-an.:D

Vojera

dirkmeister wrote: »

Technically they have the same name.

I knew a brother and sister called Felix and Felicia, respectively. Now that's just lazy. The weird thing was that no one else thought it was strange.

When visiting friends in Boston I met a couple who had just had a baby. The mother was a proper Southie and the dad was from Kerry, and they'd called their son 'Seamus', which I thought was nice until I saw the big lettering of S-H-A-Y-M-U-S across the nursery wall. For some reason it really bothered me.

El Siglo

I can understand why Americans would mistake the names, that's fair enough considering they haven't been brought up with those kinds of names and given that nearly everything is phonetic over there anyway. However, whenever my English, Welsh and some 'Northern Irish' colleagues mispronounce or have little regard to Irish names, that's pretty bad.

MFdaveIreland

antodeco wrote: »

Ironically, I dont know a single irish person named Shaughnessy

Andrew o shaughnesy limerick hurler if I'm not mistaken

Semele

I got talking to an American man a few years ago who was doing the whole Irish roots bit. As proof of his ancestry (not that I was denying it btw) he told me he'd named his daughter 'a traditional Irish name'. Her name turned out to be Erin Colleen, potentially the most American sounding name I've ever heard!

SpaceTime

Freddie Dodge wrote: »

Sinead sorta = Janet as far as I knew. That translating of names from one language to another is all bull anyway....... whats the irish for Miroslav ?

If you were coming into Ellis Island... probably Bob.

Meauldsegosha

Freddie Dodge wrote: »

That translating of names from one language to another is all bull anyway

Yeah I agree. But back in the 1970's you didn't argue with nuns and they called everyone by their "Irish" name.

Davidius

Freddie Dodge wrote: »

Sinead sorta = Janet as far as I knew. That translating of names from one language to another is all bull anyway....... whats the irish for Miroslav ?

Muirióslabh of course.

Annasopra

seamus wrote: »

I do! I used to work with a girl with that surname. But, eh, she was American. Actually she was Irish as bedamned, but her accent let her down. "Shocknessy" was the pronunciation.

But Shocknessy is how it's pronounced in Ireland!
Well I know a Jimmy O'Shaughnessy and his nickname is "shock"

Freddie Dodge

Meauldsegosha wrote: »

I know sisters called Sinead and Jennifer. Although it's not a direct translation it is commonly used.

It caused some problems for them in school.

Sinead sorta = Janet as far as I knew. That translating of names from one language to another is all bull anyway....... whats the irish for Miroslav ?

SpaceTime

Let's not forget our dear leader who was introduced on a report on a news channel as Irish President Edna Kennedy.

Stojkovic

Met an American woman who said she loved listened to Sean Finn telling stories about Ireland. Hadnt a clue who she was talking about. I mentioned Seamus Heaney et al but no she was convinced his name was Sean Finn.

Finally my Scouse friend copped it......she meant Sinn Fein (Gerry Adams).

seamus

antodeco wrote: »

Ironically, I dont know a single irish person named Shaughnessy

I do! I used to work with a girl with that surname. But, eh, she was American. Actually she was Irish as bedamned, but her accent let her down. "Shocknessy" was the pronunciation.

Meauldsegosha

dirkmeister wrote: »

WWE wrestler John Cena has a brother called Seán.

Technically they have the same name.

I know sisters called Sinead and Jennifer. Although it's not a direct translation it is commonly used.

It caused some problems for them in school.

endacl

dirkmeister wrote: »

WWE wrestler John Cena has a brother called Seán.

Technically they have the same name.

No they don't. There's no English version of Seán. John is Eoin.

Common mistake. Interestingly, and off topic, this mistake is a factoid. Another factoid is the common misunderstanding of the term 'factoid'.

pocketse

I have located the correct pronunciation of the name Shaughnessy about 20 seconds in here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZBT3Yd9A0Y

SarahBM

Watching the film Dragon Heart (starring Denis Quaid) years ago I heard what I thought was a beautiful name, pronounced "Eehs-linn".

when the credits came up I wanted to see how it was spelt. Turns out it was just Aisling. LOL Maybe thats just the Welsh/Anglo-Saxon way of saying it. If I did want to name my daughter "Eehs-linn" though, how would you spell it ?!?!? mmm

Oh and I was also given a birthday card once with my name spelt Saura. I nearly had to be carried away!

Khannie

Fluorescence wrote: »

Pfffffft, my name is Aoife. IME, American's brains explode upon seeing it. If I say it to them or write it down as "Ee-fah" I just end up being called Eva.

It's not the same

We have a baby on the way and seriously considered Aoife if it's a girl, but that was one of the things that went against it.

I really dislike hearing Irish names mispronounced, but I'm sure we do it to foreigners here all the time too. I make a point of asking proper pronunciation for names I'm not 100% on.

dirkmeister

WWE wrestler John Cena has a brother called Seán.

Technically they have the same name.

ruthloss

lau1247 wrote: »

You mean a sift?

Ah feck off., you all knew what I meant.:o

dxhound2005

thee glitz wrote: »

My mother is a Cahill. I can't begin to describe how horrible it is to hear that Everton lad being called K-hill.

Would you like to explain to the tatooed one with a penchant for celebrating jailbirds when he scores that he does not know how to say his own name correctly.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-524734/Fury-Everton-footballer-Tim-Cahills-pitch-gesture-solidarity-thug-brother-left-man-blinded.html

I find it amazing that some people think they know how to pronounce someone's name better than the actual owner of the name. Just accept that there are thousands of words with more than one pronunciation, including some first names and some family names.

Duck Soup

And while I remember, honorable mention to Jan Leeming, one of the first female BBC newsreaders, talking on a news bulletin many years ago about somewhere in Ireland called Drog-heed-ah. I still can't find it on the map.