Spelling IRISH names!

[lozzy21]

I wouldn't say it's a problem of spelling them wrong..more a case of deliberate anglicisation. Personally, the names should NOT be anglicised IN Ireland, but I'm a bit more open-minded as to how they are spelled abroad, and the majority of members are obviously from the UK and US. I know 'Neev; is despised and doesn't look near as pretty as Niamh..but spellings like Keira and Kieran have become perfectly normal and I see no problem with that. Even IN Irish the spellings are so varying..Aoife itself which you would think is fairly standard can be spelled and has been historically as Aoiffe. And then you get into Maeve/Maebh/Meabh/Meabhdh and Saive/Sadbh/Sadhbh! You can see why the first spelling instead of the third/fourth would appeal to people.

Pronouncing them wrong is a different story! I'm very passionate about that and have created threads advising on the pronunication of LOADS of Irish names.

I would pronounce Lorcan as Loor-kun. It is definitely not the 'o' sound in 'orange', it's similar to that of 'look' but with more emphasis. My own accent is completely netral so that does not effect it...I don't have a regional/country/city accent at all.

I think you should spell a name how its supposed to be spelt not how you think it should be, its kinda disrespectful to the country it comes from.

 

[cherry_pie]

yay for irish mummies, im one too, (to - be haha)

 

[truly_blessed]

I love Niamh but we would spell it Neve it we chose it, we just prefer it that way.

 

[GingerNut]

I love Niamh but we would spell it Neve it we chose it, we just prefer it that way.

That spelling doesn't actually reflect the sound of the name, though? The 'a' isn't silent.

 

[GingerNut]

I just remembered another one of these that drives me mad - people spelling Caoimhe 'Keeva'. Or pronouncing it that way. My mother mispronounces it all the time and it really annoys me.

 

[birdiex]

I love irish names, can't use them though as somehow, they defeat OH's mental capacity Anglicising names is also a pet peeve of mine, oh it's SO annoying! And people who pronounce names wrong.. At work the other day there was a little girl called Niamh, but her mum was saying it nee-amm! I just wanted to bludgeon her!

 

[truly_blessed]

Must be an accent thing, Neve and Naimh are pronounced the same here in Lancashire. I must admit the irish pronounciation does sound better though.

 

[Lucy22]

I love Niamh but we would spell it Neve it we chose it, we just prefer it that way.

That spelling doesn't actually reflect the sound of the name, though? The 'a' isn't silent.

I agree, I pn Niamh like "Nee-av" too. It does depend on the accent though, I know some people that pn it "Neve".

 

[sun]

Neve is actually OH's favourite name for LO at the mo (Neve is heard of here, whereas Niamh isn't). So strange because none of the sites/books I have mention that it originates from Ireland. They all say it is a form of the latin name Neva! x So we had no idea!

 

[truly_blessed]

ooooo now I do like Neva

 

[TheNewMrs]

Hey girls, just on the topic of the name Niamh it is certainly IRISH, and it is pronounced my IRISH PEOPLE as

[Nee-a-uv] or [Nyee-a-uv]

Neve is not Irish, its an entirely different name.

Hope that helps!

 

[TheNewMrs]

I just remembered another one of these that drives me mad - people spelling Caoimhe 'Keeva'. Or pronouncing it that way. My mother mispronounces it all the time and it really annoys me.

dives me insane...

[Kw-ee-va] -thats how I'd pronounce it as well.

 

[mushroom]

I wouldn't say it's a problem of spelling them wrong..more a case of deliberate anglicisation. Personally, the names should NOT be anglicised IN Ireland, but I'm a bit more open-minded as to how they are spelled abroad, and the majority of members are obviously from the UK and US. I know 'Neev; is despised and doesn't look near as pretty as Niamh..but spellings like Keira and Kieran have become perfectly normal and I see no problem with that. Even IN Irish the spellings are so varying..Aoife itself which you would think is fairly standard can be spelled and has been historically as Aoiffe. And then you get into Maeve/Maebh/Meabh/Meabhdh and Saive/Sadbh/Sadhbh! You can see why the first spelling instead of the third/fourth would appeal to people.

Pronouncing them wrong is a different story! I'm very passionate about that and have created threads advising on the pronunication of LOADS of Irish names.

I would pronounce Lorcan as Loor-kun. It is definitely not the 'o' sound in 'orange', it's similar to that of 'look' but with more emphasis. My own accent is completely netral so that does not effect it...I don't have a regional/country/city accent at all.

I think you should spell a name how its supposed to be spelt not how you think it should be, its kinda disrespectful to the country it comes from.

I don't see a problem with names changing spelling outside of Ireland. In Ireland, NO but abroad, doesn't bother me. Several Irish names have spellings that are easier for non-Irish speakers anyway than some of their other spellings- plenty of them don't have one official spelling anyway. I would see it as a nod to the country and the language if spelt in Irish but still a good thing to take the pronunciation of an Irish name and modify it slightly. That's my opinion anyway. I can see why a name like Caoilfhionn would be changed to Keelin..looks better as the first but it's quite unwieldy if you have no knowledge of Irish.

 

[TheNewMrs]

Looking better is a matter of opinion. Nobody came on here to debate weather or not its ok to spell IRISH names the NON IRISH way.

The reason for starting the thread was to help people out who do wish to spell Irish names correctly, not to debate weather or not its wrong or right to do so.

 

[lozzy21]

I love Niamh but we would spell it Neve it we chose it, we just prefer it that way.

That spelling doesn't actually reflect the sound of the name, though? The 'a' isn't silent.

I agree, I pn Niamh like "Nee-av" too. It does depend on the accent though, I know some people that pn it "Neve".

It does depend on the accent. I say it Neev but an irish friend says it Ne-av.

Its like Siobhan, some pronounce it, Shiv-on and others say Shiv-vorn.

 

[xSarahM]

I just thought i'd butt in and say, i hate it when people spell Niamh, as "Neve". Its so much more beautiful how its originally spelt, why would you want to change it?

Also, because im not from Ireland, and i dont really even know any Irish people, im preparing myself for the. "Aoife? How do you pronounce it?" "How do you spell that?" "What, you're not even Irish?"

 

[lozzy21]

I just thought i'd butt in and say, i hate it when people spell Niamh, as "Neve". Its so much more beautiful how its originally spelt, why would you want to change it?

Also, because im not from Ireland, and i dont really even know any Irish people, im preparing myself for the. "Aoife? How do you pronounce it?" "How do you spell that?" "What, you're not even Irish?"

Oh yes your going to get lots of that

 

[truly_blessed]

It seems Niamh and Neve aren't even the same name so I don't see what the issue is to be honest.

 

[xSarahM]

Oh yes your going to get lots of that

My cousin has a little girl who is almost a year old called Niamh. So she had alot of it too.

 

[TheNewMrs]

It seems Niamh and Neve aren't even the same name so I don't see what the issue is to be honest.

Theres not an issue so long as people who use the name Neve don't claim it to be Irish, because it isnt.