I'm not really into Irish names
in reply to a message by Vek
So this will be a fun challenge! Let's take a look-see over at the Irish section:
Aifric - I remember seeing this name so often in my generic babyname books. I think it's kinda cool.
Ailill is neat
Alastriona is awesome
Bedelia is great
Biddy!!! Yeah! I just read George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara and I loved that the mean old mom's name was Britomart, nn Biddy. So awesome.
Cadogan is good
Clancy is cute
Clodagh is fun
Cliona is nice
Conri is neat!
Doyle is scrappy. Also "O'Doyle rules!"
Driscoll is GREAT
Eamonn is interesting
Eilis is pretty
Einri is adorable!
Enna is nice
Erskine is fantastic my god
Farquhar, I mean what's not to like there
Fergal is delicious to say
Finbarr is wonderful
Finnegan is a classic, go Mr. Dressup
Florry is hella fun!
Gobinet is actually really great in a guilty pleasure kind of way. Gob.
GORMLAITH WOW
Ide is cute as can be
Meallan is good
Nainsi is soo fun
Oona of course
Phelim hee I like it
Riordan is hot
and that's it I guess.
I think my main issue with Irish names is the lack of connection between the way it looks and the way it sounds. I see a name like, Deirbhile for example, and I think to myself, "that is nice, I bet it is said like deerb-heel" but it is actually DERV-la, which I do not like, and then I am disappointed (just as an example).
Also when I think "Irish names" I think "boring", because whenever a person says "I want an Irish name for my baby to reflect my Irish heritage!" they usually pick a real whiz-bang of a name like Shawn or Erin and I am underwhelmed by it all. Nobody picks things like Bedelia or Fidelma or Driscoll.
Aifric - I remember seeing this name so often in my generic babyname books. I think it's kinda cool.
Ailill is neat
Alastriona is awesome
Bedelia is great
Biddy!!! Yeah! I just read George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara and I loved that the mean old mom's name was Britomart, nn Biddy. So awesome.
Cadogan is good
Clancy is cute
Clodagh is fun
Cliona is nice
Conri is neat!
Doyle is scrappy. Also "O'Doyle rules!"
Driscoll is GREAT
Eamonn is interesting
Eilis is pretty
Einri is adorable!
Enna is nice
Erskine is fantastic my god
Farquhar, I mean what's not to like there
Fergal is delicious to say
Finbarr is wonderful
Finnegan is a classic, go Mr. Dressup
Florry is hella fun!
Gobinet is actually really great in a guilty pleasure kind of way. Gob.
GORMLAITH WOW
Ide is cute as can be
Meallan is good
Nainsi is soo fun
Oona of course
Phelim hee I like it
Riordan is hot
and that's it I guess.
I think my main issue with Irish names is the lack of connection between the way it looks and the way it sounds. I see a name like, Deirbhile for example, and I think to myself, "that is nice, I bet it is said like deerb-heel" but it is actually DERV-la, which I do not like, and then I am disappointed (just as an example).
Also when I think "Irish names" I think "boring", because whenever a person says "I want an Irish name for my baby to reflect my Irish heritage!" they usually pick a real whiz-bang of a name like Shawn or Erin and I am underwhelmed by it all. Nobody picks things like Bedelia or Fidelma or Driscoll.
This message was edited 3/17/2010, 9:14 AM
Replies
I'm with you on the non-intuitive spellings, that's one of the reasons I'm not really into Irish names either, with a few exceptions. The problem is that I'm tempted to pronounce them like they're written. I'm generally in favour of preserving a name's original spelling, but this is a case where the anglicized spellings make sense, even if they're less "authentic".
That's actually what got me into Irish names when I was a kid. I found how the names could be spelled with way more letters than seemed entirely necessary (ex. Caoilfhionn, which was a first favorite) to be a whole lot of fun. And they're often spelled with such rounded letters... Os, Hs, Ns and long vowels... they're so gentle and warm to look at and pleasant to speak.
lol
O'Doyle, I've got a feeling your whole family's going down.
O'Doyle, I've got a feeling your whole family's going down.