Is Saoirse cruel?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there are lots of names between Nora and Saoirse in “Irishness”.

+1

Or should I say +cead mile 😉

[Anonymous]

No, it is NOT cruel.

This is your daughter, OP. And this is the name you have dreamed of naming her forever. It's a beautiful name - it means FREEDOM! What woman could want a better name than that?

Saoirse, sounds like Sersha. Easy enough to say when she meets new teachers, new friends, new coworkers. Not a huge hurdle. Not a curse. If anything, an opportunity to make a mark and stand out a little from the crowd.

Give her something easier as a middle name, so if she goes through a phase where she doesn't want to be called Saoirse she can default to the middle - but at home by her beloved Celtic mother, she can be called the name her mother dreamed of for years before she was even conceived.

I have a difficult name - not as difficult as Saoirse, but a name that is somewhat common but my parents spelled it different. I could never find things (like the little license plates and pens and other stuff with names on them) that were spelled like my name. And my last name was awful to boot, people always spelling and pronouncing it wrong - and it was joke fodder and I was teased mercilessly for it at one point in ES. I learned to make a joke of it myself, and it taught me to break ice and put people at ease - it taught me to be personable and that has served me exceedingly well in life and career.

I recently worked with ES kids in a program in a Title I school district and believe me, there are many very weird and weirdly spelled names out there these days. Far weirder and as unpronounceable than Saoirse. As I was learning the kids names, they had to spell them and pronounce them for me repeatedly in early days. They were unperturbed, and clearly proud of their names. It made those kids stand out in my mind.

No, it's not cruel. It's a beautiful name with a wonderful meaning and connects your daughter to her Celtic heritage. I would personally put in a plug for Maeve as a middle name, so in addition to freedom she can have the name of a warrior queen.

Saoirse Maeve - that would be just gorgeous!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, it is NOT cruel.

This is your daughter, OP. And this is the name you have dreamed of naming her forever. It's a beautiful name - it means FREEDOM! What woman could want a better name than that?

Saoirse, sounds like Sersha. Easy enough to say when she meets new teachers, new friends, new coworkers. Not a huge hurdle. Not a curse. If anything, an opportunity to make a mark and stand out a little from the crowd.

Give her something easier as a middle name, so if she goes through a phase where she doesn't want to be called Saoirse she can default to the middle - but at home by her beloved Celtic mother, she can be called the name her mother dreamed of for years before she was even conceived.

I have a difficult name - not as difficult as Saoirse, but a name that is somewhat common but my parents spelled it different. I could never find things (like the little license plates and pens and other stuff with names on them) that were spelled like my name. And my last name was awful to boot, people always spelling and pronouncing it wrong - and it was joke fodder and I was teased mercilessly for it at one point in ES. I learned to make a joke of it myself, and it taught me to break ice and put people at ease - it taught me to be personable and that has served me exceedingly well in life and career.

I recently worked with ES kids in a program in a Title I school district and believe me, there are many very weird and weirdly spelled names out there these days. Far weirder and as unpronounceable than Saoirse. As I was learning the kids names, they had to spell them and pronounce them for me repeatedly in early days. They were unperturbed, and clearly proud of their names. It made those kids stand out in my mind.

No, it's not cruel. It's a beautiful name with a wonderful meaning and connects your daughter to her Celtic heritage. I would personally put in a plug for Maeve as a middle name, so in addition to freedom she can have the name of a warrior queen.

Saoirse Maeve - that would be just gorgeous!

What a sweet post. ❤️

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another thing to consider perhaps:
I have a rare, hard to pronounce name and overall don't mind it. I use my "starbucks name" and move along my day fine.
The thing I do mind is that in this current age I am so much more readily identifiable online. There is just no way to "blend in" online with a name like mine. Let's take DCUM for example: if first names only were required someone with Kathy or Tricia would not stand out but if my name was mentioned it would be obvious to those who know me who was posting.
It isn't a huge deal but it is something i have to consider. The world is interconnected on levels that my parents would have never imagined when they named me. Sometimes one does not want to be "found" so easily.

Yes! I'm in the same boat as pp. I changed my last name when I got married and use my middle name (which is also unusual, but not as much as my first) professionally and online. I have made it very difficult for people in my past to find me. It would have been much easier for me had my parents named me Linda, Lisa or even Heather.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, it is NOT cruel.

This is your daughter, OP. And this is the name you have dreamed of naming her forever. It's a beautiful name - it means FREEDOM! What woman could want a better name than that?

Saoirse, sounds like Sersha. Easy enough to say when she meets new teachers, new friends, new coworkers. Not a huge hurdle. Not a curse. If anything, an opportunity to make a mark and stand out a little from the crowd.

Give her something easier as a middle name, so if she goes through a phase where she doesn't want to be called Saoirse she can default to the middle - but at home by her beloved Celtic mother, she can be called the name her mother dreamed of for years before she was even conceived.

I have a difficult name - not as difficult as Saoirse, but a name that is somewhat common but my parents spelled it different. I could never find things (like the little license plates and pens and other stuff with names on them) that were spelled like my name. And my last name was awful to boot, people always spelling and pronouncing it wrong - and it was joke fodder and I was teased mercilessly for it at one point in ES. I learned to make a joke of it myself, and it taught me to break ice and put people at ease - it taught me to be personable and that has served me exceedingly well in life and career.

I recently worked with ES kids in a program in a Title I school district and believe me, there are many very weird and weirdly spelled names out there these days. Far weirder and as unpronounceable than Saoirse. As I was learning the kids names, they had to spell them and pronounce them for me repeatedly in early days. They were unperturbed, and clearly proud of their names. It made those kids stand out in my mind.

No, it's not cruel. It's a beautiful name with a wonderful meaning and connects your daughter to her Celtic heritage. I would personally put in a plug for Maeve as a middle name, so in addition to freedom she can have the name of a warrior queen.

Saoirse Maeve - that would be just gorgeous!

It may not be cruel, but your daughter will build a complex or a hell of a lot of character for hearing her name butchered and explaining it over and over and over again ad infinitum. Maeve Saoirse is the way to go. If she goes through a phase of wanting to have an unusual, hard to pronounce, but cool name, she can go by her middle name.

[Anonymous]

I think it sounds like a really beautiful name, but I can’t help but pronounce and read it the way it’s spelled no matter how many times I have heard the correct pronunciation.
It’s not cruel at all, but your daughter will spend a lifetime of correcting peoples pronunciation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Go with Quinn. How do you even pronounce that? Sores like cold sores?

The famous actress said it's pronounced like "inertia".

But OP wants to pronounce it like "hair"!

Or does OP want the nickname to have a different vowel sound than Sari (typically pronounced with an "-ah" like the clothing) OR Saoirse? That WOULD be cruel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you use a different spelling? I can’t suggest one because I have no idea what this word sounds like.

+1 My Irish friends who live in the US named their son Cillian, but they spelled it Killian to help with pronunciation.

[Anonymous]

I still don’t understand how to pronounce it, even after reading the clues here. Don’t do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I still don’t understand how to pronounce it, even after reading the clues here. Don’t do it.

Also, I’m Irish American.

[Anonymous]

I love it!

[Anonymous]

When you said Sari, like hair, I still thought of the Indian garment. That’s going to make her life hard. Instead, put the Irish name in the middle and call her that. Emily Saoirse, but call her Saoirse, or whatever. That will allow her to choose the difficult name, but will make the easy name the default.


FWIW, we gave our children American first names and saved the hard ethnic names for the middle.

[Anonymous]

It’s exhausting to have to spell your name constantly, teach people how to pronounce it, see a sub’s blank face when they see your name on the attendance sheet. It also keeps many people from even trying to say your name.

Can you spell it phonetically (like how people use Owen instead of the Celtic spelling)?

[Anonymous]

OP, given the pet name you plan to use, just checking that you know the full name is not pronounced Sair like hair, right? As others have said, it's like Sir or Seer, depending on where you're from (married to an Irish person and we have one in the family, and in our family it's pronounced with a long E, but people from other parts of the country say it more like Sir-sha).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I still don’t understand how to pronounce it, even after reading the clues here. Don’t do it.

Sirsha?