Celtic Baby Names: Newbie news from Ireland and Scotland

I’m pretty sure Elmear should be Eimear.

I love the look of many of these names…I just wish I knew how to pronounce them

Can any Irish speakers out there tell us the correct way to pronounce Etain? The usual web sources vary widely. I want to add the name to our database but would like to include the pronunciation.

Aunt Ning, pronunciation was a huge issue when we were doing our book Cool Irish Names. So many sources, audio and written, differed, and the Irish speaker our publisher hired also had some different ideas!

Lucas Anakin!!! They must be HUGE StarWars fans.

Lol, LilySong, I was just going to say the same thing
This is great to see. I’m 33 weeks in my pregnancy and we are hoping to use something to honour my father’s Scottish heritage. It’s interesting to see what is being used over there now. Our girl name is on the list but our boy name isn’t. I do love Struan though, just can’t get hubby on board.

I admire this girl and boy name, and I wonder if they might have political motivation:
Nicole Saoirse
Pierce Nicholas John

I also wish I knew the name stories about this girl and boy:
Phoebe Heather Olympia Eleanor
John Artemas Stevenson

Favorite girl and boy names that strike me as pleasingly Irish:
Maurethe Bridget
Donal Anthony

And I just like:
Anya-Maria Ruby
Oliver Charles Colum

My college-friend Sorcha is from Ireland and her name was pronounced “sore-hah” not the “sore-ca” in the description. She has a niece named Caoimhe (Kee-va) and her twin brother Pearse. And her sisters are Siobhán (Sha-von) and Bronaugh. She and her husband named their new son, Dallan… and few of us know how to pronounce it, and we feel weird asking.

And I’m Erin, the Irish word for the land of Ireland, and my sister is Shannon, a major river in Ireland among other things. Sorcha informed during our first few weeks at school, that while these are Irish names, few Irish give them to their children.

Pam- according to forvo.com- there’s a French pron. of Etain that’s sounds like ee-tuhn or ay-tuhn (with the nasally soft “n” at the end)and an Irish pron. that sounds like Aiden. http://www.forvo.com/search/Etain/

Lucas Anakin…AMAZING! Gotta love a Star Wars name

@Pam, the correct pronunciation is Ee-tain, with the -tain rhyming with “rain”. Eh-tain is an accepted alternative pronunciation.

So many of these are beautiful! Niamh Fiona is stunning.

I love Aisling, Alfie, and Conor, and I’m surprised at how popular Daisy is.

My sister loves Celtic baby names. I think she worries that she couldn’t get away with some of her favourites but I shall continues to encourage her. She loves Cillian and Dermot.

I’m Scottish and all the kids being born near where I live at the moment are –

Boys – Jayden, Jack,
Girls – Maci, Olivia, Mia, Ava, Eva

Not heard many names on the list which is sad because when these kids go to school they will be one of a few Jacks or Jaydens or M

I’m Scottish and all the kids being born near where I live at the moment are –

Boys – Jayden, Jack,
Girls – Maci, Olivia, Mia, Ava, Eva

Not heard many names on the list which is sad because when these kids go to school they will be one of a few Jacks or Jaydens or Mias.

@Saracita00 i remember reading the Irish birth announcement of Phoebe Heather Olympia Eleanor, she was born on 27th July og this year which therefore explains Olympia (born on day of Olympic opening ceremony)

@GrecianErn

I don’t think your statement about few Irish people giving their children Irish names is very true.

I’m Irish and I know a couple of Sorcha’s, a few Erin’s (One of which has a sister named Sorcha, a few Caoimhe’s, a couple of Siobhán’s and a couple of Bronagh’s (Even though the dialect may differ, the writing usually doesn’t so I’m pretty sure Bronaugh is an incorrect spelling on the parents part). As for Sorcha’s pronunciation, are you such there isn’t a guttural sound on the -hah-?

Also, if you look at the top 100 in Ireland, there are quite a few Irish names there. I also know a lot of people with Irish names in school and such.

Names from other cultures are popular too but quite a few people use Irish names as well.