Irish name pronunciation :)

[mushroom]

Just noticing that there are a lot of Irish names pronounced wrong here, also several names described as Irish when they;re not at all. Not criticising or anything! I'll phonetically spell out most common names here, feel free to ask me how to spell (though there are variations besides names that have been anglicised)/pronounce another name.

Girls

Aoife- Ee-fa- very common
Sinéad- shi-nayde- Jean in english- common
Siobhán- shuh-vawn -common
Áine- awn-yah -Anne in english- less common now
Aisling- ash-ling -meaning is dream,vision- very common
Cáit (this is THE most difficult one!) cawtch- comes from kate, from catherine, meaning pure- common
Róisín- row (as in boat, not fight!)-sheen -very common
Emer/Eimear- ee-murr -very common
Aoibheann- ee-veen -only common recently
Aoibhe- ee-va -only common recently
Sadbh- rhymes with I've -one of the Irish translations of Sarah -only common recently
Mairéad- murr-aid- Margaret in english- less common now
Síofra- sheef-rah -only common recently
Máire- moy-rah- mary in english -not common anymore
Caoimhe- kwee-vah. not keeva, the 'caoi' produces a kwee sound- very common
Sorcha- sore-kah -a version of sarah in english- only common recently
Niamh- neeve -very common
Maebh- mave -common
Saoirse- seer-sha- meaning is freedom- common
Gráinne- grawn-yah -Grace in english- common
Orlaith- orla -common
Caitríona- cah-treen-ah -Catherine in english- common
Eilish- eye-lish- not that common
Ailish- ay-lish -not that common
Ailbhe- al-va -Olivia in english- not that common
Eithne- et-nah -not that common
Muireann- mwir-in -not that common
Bébhinn- bay-vin -Eleanor in english- common
Bláthnaid- blaw-nid -not sure, but bláth is flower- only common recently
Clíodhna- clee-nah -not that common
Dearbhail- durr-vil -not that common
Chlodagh- clo-dah -common
Réaltín- ray-ul-teen literal translation=little star- only common recently
Caoilfhionn- keel-in (prononuciation different to Caoimhe because the l is soft..) Anglicised as Keelin- common
Iseult- ee-zult- pretty sure this is an Irish version of Isolde- only common recently
Nóinín- no-neen- literal translation Daisy- only common recently
Imadin- Imm-igin- translation of Imogen- not common
Radha- Ray-a or rye-ah- not common
Ribh- Reev- not common

Boys

Ciarán- keer-awn -very common
Cian- kee-un -common
Oisín- ush-een- common
Daragh- darr-ah -very common
Eoghan- o-un -very common
Séan- shawn -John in english- very very common
Ferghal- fur-gull -not that common
Fionn- fyunn -not that common
Caoimhín- kwee-veen- Kevin in english -not that common
Cathal- coh-hull common
Naoise- nee-sha (can be unisex) not that common
Diarmuid- deer-mud common
Dónal- doh-null common
Niall- nile Neil in english very common
Padraic- poy-ric Patrick in english common
Padraig- pod-rig another version of patrick common
Cillian- kill-ee-un common
Ruadhán-roo-awn uncommon
Odhrán- oh-rawn uncommon
Ruadhrí- roo-ree- rory in english-uncommon
Rian- reen or ree-un- Ryan in English- uncommon

These are all traditional spellings, anglicised versions of the names and of the spellings are to be found everywhere. You won't find too many Erin's in Ireland! Personally I love Sadhbh, Maebh and Oisín...OH does not like the latter two though. Also love Iseult and Nóinín and Réaltín are just TOOOO cute, but not sure how great they'd be on a 30 year old..hmm.

 

[teddiebear_hu]

Very interesting! Thank you for posting this.

Padraic has been a name on my list for decades. I have never heard it pronounced poy-ric or said to be pronounced that way. I have only seen it has pronounced paw-ric and pod-ric. A friend of ours that is Irish says paw-ric.

 

[mushroom]

I've heard it pronounced paw-ric too. Poy-ric is the more traditional spelling..might depend on regional differences though!

 

[phoebe]

thankyou lovely x

 

[IrishGirl]

LOL as you can see im a Dublin girl.I get ALOT of people asking me how to pronounce my OHs name lol.Theres no harm i really dont mind tho

 

[mushroom]

Forgot some boys names- I don't think there's as many? They're not as common. Séamus- shay-mus (James) would be the most common one I forgot.

Yeah I totally see why people wouldn't know how to pronounce them! Particularly some variations that have loads more b's and h's, like Sadhbh.

 

[CandiceSj]

Thanks for that! Very instructive!

 

[whoops]

Great thread!

 

[LittleSpy]

Since there's so much incorrect information out there in name land, can someone tell me if Maisie is really a nick name used for Mairéad?

 

[IrishGirl]

As far as i know im nearly sure its a nickname for May

 

[neadyda]

like this thread

My name is Sinead! and my sons middle name is Declin (after my dad) even though most people spell Declin-Declan

 

[neadyda]

and my sons first name is James!

 

[mushroom]

Since there's so much incorrect information out there in name land, can someone tell me if Maisie is really a nick name used for Mairéad?

I don't think so. Never heard of it coming from that. Unless Maisie comes from Margaret, in which case it technically would be. The name Mairéad is not very common anymore, you won't find it on the Irish name lists anymore but you probably would have 20 years ago. My friend Mairéad got called Ray occassionally, or Ray-ray!


Oh that's nice, James Declin. Or Séamus Déaglán!

 

[whoops]

Since there's so much incorrect information out there in name land, can someone tell me if Maisie is really a nick name used for Mairéad?

I'm fairly sure it's a Scottish nickname for Margaret... I've never heard it in relation to Mairéad before.

 

[mamamay]

Very interesting thread, thanks x

 

[Marzipan_girl]

Eeee you forgot Ruaridh! Which is the traditional gaelic spelling for my son's name, Rory! We spelt it the easier way haha

 

[mushroom]

Eeee you forgot Ruaridh! Which is the traditional gaelic spelling for my son's name, Rory! We spelt it the easier way haha

I find it easier to remember girls names! Ruaridh would be the way it's spelt in Scotland, Irish (or Gaeilge) is very similar to gaelic but has differences. It would be Ruadhrí here, or Ruarí. Lovely name in any language!

 

[Nixie]

Great list thanks

 

[pumpkim]

I Liked this website for irish names, it's good to actually hear them pronounced because sometimes even with phonetic spelling it can be hard to know you're saying it right (if you're not Irish).

https://www.babynamesofireland.com/pages/girl-names-a-c.html

 

[JosieM]

Forgot some boys names- I don't think there's as many? They're not as common. Séamus- shay-mus (James) would be the most common one I forgot.

Yeah I totally see why people wouldn't know how to pronounce them! Particularly some variations that have loads more b's and h's, like Sadhbh.

Great thread, thanks! You forgot my baby boy's name, Odhrán! Apparently it's quite old-fashioned, a wee elderly lady in the street told me she hadn't heard it in a long time. I love Meabdh for a girl, or Orlaith. If it's a wee boy, not so sure, maybe Aodhán/Aidan, but it's quite similar to Odhrán.Can't believe we're back to thinking up baby names again so soon! But it's fun!