Message: "Irish names" - Behind the Name

Irish names

by Katie (Bellula)

4/3/2008, 5:20 AM

What are your favourites, and do you prefer to keep the original spellings or use the anglicised ones?

Replies

- Dot (Spider from Mars)

4/4/2008, 9:08 AM

In general, I prefer the original spellings. Siobhan is a nice name, Shavon looks stupid. However, some anglicised spellings have been used so much as to become established names- I'm thinking Kathleen, Maureen, Moira, Eileen.

My favourites:
Bláthnat
Bridget
Caitlín / Kathleen
Deirdre
Eileen
Honora
Maureen

Duncan
Oscar
Patrick
Seamus

- bellamiasofia

4/3/2008, 7:49 PM

my favourites are:

Niamh
Aisling
Maeve

Eamonn
Malachy
Connor (although to popular for me to use it)

I think its lovely to keep original spellings and stay as close to the language the name comes from, but realistically, its going to be a real pain for most people in Anglecised communities if the spelling is totally unrecognisable, like Aoife for eg.

- Bear

4/3/2008, 9:53 AM

I love so many. But if I had to narrow them down, my absolute ten favorites would be:

Niamh, Aoife, Sinead, Mairead, Eimear / Emer ("EE-mer"), Fionnuala / Finola, Isibeal ("ISH-bayl"), Muirgheal / Muriel, Eibhlin, Fidelma;

Desmond, Malachy, Cormac, Finbarr, Eamonn ("AY-mun"), Tadhg ("tie + g"), Diarmuid, Fergus, Rory, Muiris ("MYOOR-ish")

This message was edited 4/3/2008, 9:54 AM

- Joan-Ay

4/3/2008, 8:28 AM

I usually go more for the anglicized spellings, it's less confusing. While I think Eoghan and Ruaidhri are great names, I'd rather go with Owen and Rory.

Irish names that I like/would use*:
Nora*
Aideen
Roisin

Owen*
Kelly*
Oscar
Rory

- LadyBug (LadyBug18)

4/3/2008, 8:04 AM

I think there was a discussion about this not too long ago, but as I love to post about Irish names.

I prefer to use Irish names for boys and usually like the keep the original Gaelic spellings.
My favorite boys name is Ciaran and I prefer this spelling over the easier to pronounce Kieran because the C honors my father Colin with out using his exact name.
My second favorite boys name is Aidan and I prefer this spelling over the Gaelic Aodhan.
I also love Eamon (my third favorite) and I have a new favorite Irish name Finbar / Finbarr and I prefer this over Fionnbharr.
So I guess it's really hit or miss over which spelling I prefer.

My favorite Irish girls names would be Eithne, Aine, Ciara (like Kiera), Caitlin, Caitriona, Caoimhe, Aoife, Aoide, Liadan, Maeve, Niamh, Roisin and Orla. But not many of these are actually in my top 10-20 favorites.