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HelpRe: Eileen
in reply to a message by mirfak
I love Eibhlin too, as with so many authentic Irish spellings.
But I do want to point out that the Anglicized / English-friendly spellings happened a lot earlier than just Americans in the mid-1900s. The English were doing it a long time before that (though I haven't been able to pin-point a time period in a quickie google search.)
William Butler Yeats used Cathleen, not Caitlin, in his play "Cathleen ni Houlihan." It's interesting to note that he did use the more authentic "ni" in the surname, meaning "daughter of," yet chose to leave the Christian name Anglicized. The character of Cathleen ni Houlihan in the play is a representation of all Ireland. Another example is "My Dark Rosaleen," a play in which the character of Rosaleen represents Ireland.
One could argue that both Yeats and James Mangan were Anglo-Irish themselves, and that they were writing in English. So purism and authenticity wasn't what they were going for. True enough.
My only point in all of this is to say that the "-een" spellings in Anglicized names like Eileen, Maureen, Cathleen, etc. have a long history and associations deeper than just phonetic simplicity. I don't see them in the same or similar category of the usual creative wonders parents come up with now. Perhaps I'm being too persnickety. To each their own.
But yeah, Eibhlin is a stunner. Gorgeous. :-D
But I do want to point out that the Anglicized / English-friendly spellings happened a lot earlier than just Americans in the mid-1900s. The English were doing it a long time before that (though I haven't been able to pin-point a time period in a quickie google search.)
William Butler Yeats used Cathleen, not Caitlin, in his play "Cathleen ni Houlihan." It's interesting to note that he did use the more authentic "ni" in the surname, meaning "daughter of," yet chose to leave the Christian name Anglicized. The character of Cathleen ni Houlihan in the play is a representation of all Ireland. Another example is "My Dark Rosaleen," a play in which the character of Rosaleen represents Ireland.
One could argue that both Yeats and James Mangan were Anglo-Irish themselves, and that they were writing in English. So purism and authenticity wasn't what they were going for. True enough.
My only point in all of this is to say that the "-een" spellings in Anglicized names like Eileen, Maureen, Cathleen, etc. have a long history and associations deeper than just phonetic simplicity. I don't see them in the same or similar category of the usual creative wonders parents come up with now. Perhaps I'm being too persnickety. To each their own.
But yeah, Eibhlin is a stunner. Gorgeous. :-D
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Yeah, I know they do - I am far too young to recall a time when seeming Irish could have been negative, anyhow. I just associate the -een names with people born between about 1925-55, and the contrast with today's Caitlins and Eilidhs and whatnot makes me feel like the eens are stereotypically 20th century Very American. You're right that seeming American is probably not what people liked about those names - but I don't think at that time a name like Eibhlin would have become popular in the US.
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