Pronounciation of Gaelic Names

[caoimhe]

Hi everyone,

Was just wondering how much of an issue you think the weird and wonderful spellings of gaelic names are when it comes to pronounciation?

Would you know how to pronounce Caoimhe, Aoife, Niamh, Roisin etc.?

Do you have a favourite gaelic name?

Thanks, Caoimhe

[siobhan29]

My name is Siobhan and honestly I have never found people's knowledge or lack of knowledge on the pronunciation to be an issue. Most people don't know how to pronounce it the first time they see it written, but you tell them once and they remember. Also most interactions in life where you tell someone your name, you are just introducing yourself rather than spelling it out anyway. If anything, many people here my name pronounce first before they even see it spelled out, and then remark on how nice the spelling is when they see it later. People are also interested in asking about the meaning of the name or Gaelic language in general, which makes me feel more vested in my name and which I love to talk about. Nice ice breakers. When I was little it wasn't an issue either, I actually kind of liked getting to tell other kids or substitute teachers, etc. how to pronounce it, it made me feel like my name was special.

[emiliaj]

My daughter went to school with a Siobhan... and for 6 months she thought it was a Sio-b-han an Egyptian boy.
Of course once she knew she knew and she was a child.
But alot of people are dumb/ ignorant and won't even try to remember.
The names are pretty in sound but crazy weird spellings! LOL
I do love them though. Probably wouldn't use any as a FN.

[amberglow]

Wow I absolutely love arianwen roisin it sounds so beautiful and for those that don't know , its pronounced Ari-ON-when ROW-sheen. Man, I love that combo... and I think siofra is shee-frah

[essjay]

I come from a pretty multicultural area and I've known a Siobhan, a Roisin and in fact even a Caoimhe with sister Aoife over the years. Caoimhe's name was the one I had the most trouble with at first because I saw her name on paper before I met her, as she was at a Brownie camp I was helping on. I knew from Niamh (ex-colleague's daughter's name) that the -mh made a v sound, so I gambled on it being said Keev. I was only a syllable off, better than any of the other adults could have got.

[kungfualex]

I know a Siobhan as well, but many of these names I haven't been exposed to before. My middle name choice if I was having a girl was Aine. I love it, but was using it in the mn spot specifically because I thought most people would have problems with it. I've had a couple people I mentioned it to ask why I wouldn't just use Anya, but for whatever reason, that spelling just doesn't hold the same appeal for me.

[oliviasarah]

I know how to pronounce them all from memory (they're all quite well-heard of in my area) but since becoming more interested in names I've definitely picked up some of the letter-sound patterns.

I heard of a girl named Aoise the other day. I'm not convinced it's a 'real' name or not. Is it pronounced EE-sha?

[scarlettrobin]

Only ones I knew how to pronounce before coming on nameberry were Aisling and Aoife.

[jasmine.lee]

Kee-vah
Ee-fah
Neev
Rosh-een

I LOVE Irish names!!

My faves are Saoirse, Aislinn, Rory, Sorcha, Sinead, Mairead and many more!

~Jasmine

[renrose]

I'm in Liverpool so I've heard quite a few Irish names in school. Spelling wise, once I'd learnt a few of the letter combos/pronunciations it was fairly easy to guess the pronunciation of unfamiliar names.

Regarding Caoimhe, I've heard a lot of Irish people insist that it's closer to 'kwee-va'. Is this a regional dialect thing?