Ruadhan Or Rowan? Read first please! :)

[kneeswrites]

Alrighty, so I think we might have decided on a name. Rowan. Or Ruadhan. I liked the name Rowan before, didn't know it was Irish. Our daughter has an Irish name and we spelled it the Gaelic way because we think it's beautiful and we hate anglicizing things.

At first I didn't like the spelling Ruadhan but now I do, and I am just worried about giving one of our kids a traditionally spelled name and the other an "easy" version of a name. The difference is that with Caoimhe, we couldn't find an alternate spelling that appealed to us. Rowan however is quite pretty looking.

It would be kind of neat if our kids names matched. Of course if we have a third child that then puts the pressure on us to use another Irish name...

I live in the U.S. And I know instinctively the majority of people are gonna be like USE ROWAN because they don't like the idea of giving a baby a name that isn't easily pronounced. But, we did it with our daughter! So should we do it with our son? We don't at all regret spelling it Caoimhe. In fact I am very happy we stuck to our guns.

I just know if we pick Ruadhan my family will go crazy on us again and I don't wanna deal with that. But I don't want to pass up my preference due to fear of another's reaction.

 

[ZooMa]

I still don't know how to pronounce, or spell, Caoimhe... I'm in the U.S. Very very confusing. I like all the letters together, looks good, but.... not U.S. Friendly. If it's working for you more power to you.

I wouldn't do it for Rowan though. He'll get Roo-Dan or rwah- don or something strange for his whole life. That's my opinion.

 

[staralfur]

I would spell it Ruadhan since your daughter's name is spelled the traditional way. I agree it's a bit mismatched to give one a traditional spelling and one a 'simplified' spelling. Plus then if they get annoyed having to correct people your daughter can't complain that you only gave her the hard name and not her brother. And likewise, if your daughter really enjoys having such a unique name your son won't feel like he got something 'trendy' instead! They'll be in it together either way.

 

[ZooMa]

Just remember they won't be a "sibset" forever.... They will always be siblings of course, but most of their lives spent as adults, even his children, they will be known individually.

 

[crownest]

I like ruadhan but I'm Irish living in canada. People find my name strange even in ireland I have to tell people how to pronunce it but I think k it adds to uniqueness and you get used to explaining it

 

[kneeswrites]

Yeah we have to explain Caoimhe's name to everyone - One time we met someone who knew it because they're Irish but other than that it's usually "Kayomee?" And we say "Keeva, it's Irish," and they say "Oh okay that's a really neat name" or they go the opposite route and give us a small lecture on why we're evil for naming her that. And then we move on. It doesn't take much energy. I spent my entire life having to spell and explain my name to people, it never bothered me and I actually enjoyed being different. So that's why I don't feel bad.

I'm really kinda leaning towards Ruadhan... just like with Caoimhe, if he decided he hated that spelling and wanted to anglicize it I wouldn't care, he can make that choice for himself.

But I'd still like opinions.

 

[wannabemomy37]

I think you should go with Ruadhan to compliment Caoimhe. I must say tho being from the US, I would not pronounce either correctly, but I like how you don't seem bothered

 

[BabyJayne]

I would go with the traditional spelling - I think it's interesting and different without actually sounding different, and I love the name Caoimhe too.

For the record my name is plain old Jayne, and I have spent my entire life saying "Jayne with a 'y'" for people who are writing it down etc - it's actually no different!

 

[staralfur]

I've spent my whole life correcting spelling/pronounciation as well and I actually hate it, but I have a very common name that's just spelled differently and throws people off, which I think is much different. It's not like you randomly mashed a bunch of letters together and called it a name, it's a traditional spelling from another part of the world, which I think is cool and probably less irritating to explain.

 

[Dollybird]

I love ruadhan. Unique and matches your daughters. Stick to your guns your family will just have to like it or lump it lol xxx

 

[kneeswrites]

Thanks you guys! I think we are leaning towards the traditional spelling. It just feels more special.

I definitely recognize that not everyone digs having to spell their name/explain it to people. My grandfather's name is Phocian and he LOATHES it, although I think it's cool haha. He gave us sooo much crap about our daughter's name, because he thinks it's cruel. My thing is like, if she doesn't like it the way I do, she can totally spell it Kiva or Keeva or make up a name, I don't care! But since we were given the task of naming her we picked a name that was special to us. I have extreme social awkwardness and my name has always been a conversation starter or a means to make small talk, and it's been the same for me with Caoimhe's name and it's a lifesaver haha! But I respect that it can be tiring and stressful for some and that's totally fine.

I'm really excited about this name... I am just dreading telling my family... it was such an ordeal last time and I don't want to go through it again. I don't understand why people have to have such an opinion about people's name choices when they aren't asked.

 

[minties]

I would go for the traditional spelling too. My OH faught me (and won) when I wanted the kids to have the Maori version of OH's last name (Anihana-they got Anderson instead). Their granddad is not an Anderson, he's an Anihana and I wanted that carried on.

Traditional spellings or versions of names are awesome.

 

[kneeswrites]

I would go for the traditional spelling too. My OH faught me (and won) when I wanted the kids to have the Maori version of OH's last name (Anihana-they got Anderson instead). Their granddad is not an Anderson, he's an Anihana and I wanted that carried on.

Traditional spellings or versions of names are awesome.

Completely agree with you!

I think we might have it decided! I'm so happy and I feel really good about it. I was into Rowan but something felt off, and Ruadhan just makes it perfect. Thank you all! Still interested in people's thoughts/opinions about this subject though so if you want to reply feel free.

 

[LoraLoo]

Ruadhan as it looks better with your girls name. Lovy names x

 

[alibaba24]

On paper the Irish spelling looks good with your DD however I just really like the look and sound of Rowan

 

[alibaba24]

I also find it amazing that the spelling of your daughters name looks nothing like how you say it iv truley never seen a name like it

 

[kneeswrites]

My hubby and I both have Irish ancestry but mostly we are both just really into Ireland, and also we both have always loved Gaelic. My husband found the name on YouTube, it was a makeup guru named LittleKiva and she eventually revealed her name was spelled Caoimhe. He fell in love with it then and was so stubborn I fell in love with it eventually too haha! It's definitely one of my favorite Irish names... I find it funny that it's popular in Ireland and yet here we get looked at like we are insane.

 

[justplay91]

I like Ruadhan! I don't think the whole "having 'weird' names" thing really affects kids as much as disapproving bystanders seem to think it does. We named our son Kaillem (KY-LUM) and we got and still get crap for it all the time. But honestly I would love to have a really different kind of name! Plus Ruadhan goes really well with Caoimhe. Go for it!

 

[Boo44]

I have mixed views on this

Firstly Caoimhe is an awesome name and I'm one of the ones who knows exactly how to pronounce it but then I do live in the UK

I also love the name Rowan. I had no idea there was a spelling of Ruadhan although now I know, I love that too! Thing is, I think most people who know the name 'Keeva' know the true spelling of Caoimhe (outside the U.S. anyway). So when people like Alyson Hannigan call their daughter Keeva you just think argh that's a simplified wrong version of the real thing. I don't think you'd have that same issue with Rowan as that's a proper spelling in its own right. So I genuinely think you could use either without a problem

 

[kneeswrites]

Justplay, thanks! I'm pretty sure we agreed on Ruadhan for sure just now and I'm sooo excited! I've been wondering how to say your son's name, that's so cool. I don't know why random people think they can criticize your name choice. I'm like, you wouldn't lecture someone for using the name John because it's too common. (no offensive to the name John lol)

And Boo, I agree with you on that for sure. Rowan is actually a name/word outside of the Irish version. Keeva however just looks like a horrible Americanization. I once met someone named Shivonne and I just feel like it takes away some of the beauty when you take away the Gaelic spelling. Rowan however is a great name in its own right. Which made this decision a bit harder!