Deirdre

I had no idea this name didn’t mean ‘sorrow’! I thought it was like Dolores, haha, but I really like the ‘daughter’ meaning, I think that’s nice. I’ve always loved this name. It’s so elegant and beautiful, just sound-wise it must be my favorite name. It just sounds so soft and mature, I’m quite in love with it :D

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(Edit: I just heard someone propose this as a unisex name—they were being rude and said they were joking, that it would be ‘insane’ or somesuch, but honestly I love the idea. I have no idea if any boy or man has the name Deirdre, but I think it works brilliantly as a unisex name! I’ve instantly fallen in love with it ♡)

I heard of this name because of the Beach Boys song from the Sunflower album. It's really good so I also like the name haha.

Sounds masculine.

I think it's lovely. Deirdre is a good choice for a person who loves Irish or Gaelic names but lives in an English-speaking country. This one is unlikely to be mispronounced.

Love it! I imagine a girl/woman named Deirdre as being brave and professional.

A very pretty name, but the spelling is quite unusual.

I was a shy child and lived in a few different countries, many times people would ask me how to pronounce or spell my name and they would look at me like "that's not right", terrible name to give a child. It made it difficult to make friends as no one felt confident on how to say it, truthfully, neither was I as people of authority (teachers, vicars, other adults had difficulty with it) which made it difficult for a shy child. I wanted to change my first name as an adult, now at 65 I wish I had; but, I worried if this would hurt my mother's feelings, so I did not. Needless to say, this was my experience as a child. As an adult, people tried to nickname me, and I accepted them as it was a means for people to easily say my name, made them comfortable in conversation and each person made their own nickname, so today I go by many names. Alas, it is miss-pelt so very often, I gave up trying to correct people, it's alright, really doesn't matter if it's spelt wrong. Anyway, that's my story. Be careful if you choose to use this name.

I like this name, but I don't think I'd use it.

Beautiful.

My mother is Irish, and loved my name. I love my name however, growing up in California, it was a very uncommon name. Everyone loved hearing me pronounce it, but they could never get it right. During my teens I became so upset with all the mispronunciation, aka butchering, that I created my own nickname -DeeDee. I have since learned to teach people how to pronounce it the Irish way "Dear Dra" by spelling it out.
I do love the Irish translation to English - wise girl. Ironically it fits me... even as a child I was told how wise I was, today in my 60's I can honestly say I've grown into my name.
Deirdre - the Irish.

I think it's a really lovely name when pronounced the correct Irish way. But it sounds awful the way they pronounce it in England and Australia, with long E in the second syllable. I have only known American Deirdres in real life, and fortunately, they were all pronounced the Irish way. Every Deirdre I've known has been from a large Catholic family.

My favorite part of my day is when the Starbucks barista insists on me spelling Deirdre for him, then wants to hear the whole story. I’m hoping this generation will bring the name back.

I don't hate this name, but why would anyone name their child that when there are so much more prettier names out there?

I also love being named Deirdre! Because it's so unique, it can be difficult to own when you're young. However, there is a sense of pride as you mature and grow into this beautiful name.
Embracing the history and folklore behind the name is an added bonus!
You will never grow tired of hearing or saying the name Deirdre!

Hello! As a 61-year-old Deirdre (deer-drah) living in the Chicago area, I am ambivalent about my name. If you are thinking of naming your daughter this, be advised that she will have "issues" with it all her life. Most negative association for me: when attendance was taken in school, I could tell the teacher was reading my name for the first time because she would frown while trying to pronounce it. I vowed to give my children names that did not cause frowning! Positive associations? Many! I love the history of the name. Many people tell me it's a beautiful name. Nicknames (pet names): Deir and Deiry.

I love this name! I kind of like that it sounds kind of mysterious and strange. This is a name I would use for a character in one of my stories.

It's rather plain, but not the ugliest name out there. I don't really like the pronunciation of it though.

I really like this name but I pronounce it Deer-Dree because I think it sounds better like that. I first saw this name in Lament by Maggie Stiefvater.

I've been lumbered with this confusing name for 51 years, and here in Australia, even though this country was basically founded by the Irish, (as convicts!) yet hardly anyone can pronounce it properly. It annoys the hell out of me, and has turned me off liking my own name! Most Aussies pronounce it DEE-DREE which is hideous! Even the proper Irish pronunciation of DARE-DRA sounds far too much like the common name of Debra for my liking... DEER-DREE is just about bearable, even though it is the English pronunciation - and the Irish in me rebels against that! Oh, how I wish my parents had called me Siobhan instead - has a much nicer ring to it! I narrowly escaped being called Dearbhla (pronounced: Dervla - horrid name!)- so it could have been much worse!
The only time I've ever felt pleased to be called Deirdre, is when I read that it was Oscar Wilde's favourite girl's name, and if he'd had a daughter he would have called her Deirdre Isola. As he was a man of great style and charm, that made me feel a bit better about it!
People either love or hate this name - and it often makes me cringe when strangers mispronounce it. Luckily, I've been nicknamed Didge by everyone since I was a kid, and that has a tomboyish ring to it that suits me just fine!

Deirdre's a great name; I say it like "Deerd-ruh." It's rare and somewhat mysterious-sounding.

I really like this name. It's a little bit old fashioned (at least to me as an American, it might be more current in Ireland), but it has a nice sound, is classic, and the story it comes from is interesting, if sad. I pronounce it Deer-dra, but Der-dra is a nice pronunciation it too.

I absolutely love the name Deirdre, it means "the sorrows" because according to an Irish legend a princess was born bearing that name and her father went to ask the druids to tell him his daughter's fate, they said she would bring great sorrow. It turns out that they were right, she fell in love with Naoise, a prince from another kingdom, and they were forbidden from seeing each other. Eventually Deirdre's father killed Naoise to keep him away from his daughter and Deirdre upon hearing of Naoise's death, died almost instantly of a broken heart; bringing great sorrow.
I consider Deirdre and Naoise to be the Irish Romeo and Juliet.

I was nearly named this by my parents, and am mostly glad I wasn't. It has that rough, old-lady sound to it, but then again it sounds kind of spunky. I'd definitely prefer it over their final choice.

Dreadful Deirdre.

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Thats what I think of when I hear or see this name. I think of old nannas knitting socks.

In grade school, I knew a Hispanic girl with this name, but she pronounced her name deer-dray. (I don't think that the last 'e' of her name actually had an accent, but her family's, and her, natural accent influenced the pronunciation of her name.) I thought it was quite pretty--and for many years, whenever I saw the name, I thought it was always pronounced deer-dray. Then I watched the movie "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and there was a character near the end named Deirdre, who pronounced it deer-dree. I figured that was just how it was said in England. And then I heard my friend (who is *very* Irish, she even has family there) call her cat deer-druh, and I was like, "What?" I hadn't even known the name had Irish origins, or that that was the original pronunciation. :-)
Over time, the pronunciation deer-druh became much more natural, and I think it's quite pretty. I'm still not a fan of deer-dree. But. Deer-dray, the Hispanic pronunciation, is still my favorite. And even though I'm not Hispanic, if I were to ever use the name Deirdre on a daughter, I would probably say deer-dray. Who knows, I might even stick an accent on the last 'e' to make it Deirdré, and that way there would be no confusion as to how to say her name. :-)

My name is Deirdre. It is a beautiful and unique name. I would pronounce it DE-AIR-DRA or DEAR-DRA. My mom first heard the name by the actor ERROL FLYNN who named his daughter, Deirdre. I have heard that in addition to it meaning sorrow. I heard that it also means "raging". What ever the meaning the women who first bore the name was stunning and beautiful. I would hate to have been named after someone who was ugly inside or out!

I know a wonderful woman with this name. (By the way, she pronounces it DEER-dra.) It's a pretty, classic name.

This has to be the worst girl's name out there. First of all, the meaning, "to cause sorrow and pain" is horrible. How would you like your name to mean that? Secondly, it's bland, boring, and sounds absolutely terrible when pronounced.

Yuck. When I was little, I never knew how to pronounce this name, so I asked my mother, and she said she didn't know either. She said, "Maybe derriere?" And you have to admit, it does look fighteningly similar.

A classy name. It brings to mind an elegant, soft-spoken, yet strong woman of virtuous character.

I can't see why anyone would consider this name pretentious. It's really rather plain and boring. Kind of dowdy. It's not extravagant in any way.

It sounds sad and emotional as a given name. You need something uplifting like Jo or Barbara.

The name is plain ugly, no matter how you pronounce it. As someone who loves the name Phaedra, I probably shouldn't call the name flat out pretentious, but I can't figure out what else could lead to people using this name than some sort of pretentiousness.

If you were writing a children's story and had to use this name, tell me you would use it for the main character and not the snotty rich girl. That's just my opinion though, and the pronunciation DER-DRE makes it even worse. I much prefer DEER-DRE.

This name is okay I guess, but it has a horrible pronunciation.

I don't like the spelling or pronunciation of this name at all. I like the name Deidra better. It's easier to pronounce and sounds more feminine to me.

Really sorry to all people who have this name but I don't like it, I'm not sure why.