Is Saoirse cruel?

[Anonymous]

Agreed, my son's name is Eamon and I'm pretty sure no one has any idea who Eamon de Valera is, but also no one can pronounce it. He is pretty much universally called, "Amon"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agreed, my son's name is Eamon and I'm pretty sure no one has any idea who Eamon de Valera is, but also no one can pronounce it. He is pretty much universally called, "Amon"

I love the name Eamon, but used to work with one and hear people call him EEE-mahn. It steered me away from Irish names, even though Maeve was high on my list.

[Anonymous]

I love it and say go for it. Others that were always on the top of my list were Aoife and Grainne and my niece was just named Moira. Spending summers in Ireland will do this to you...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really feel bad for the kids of people like OP having to live their whole lives with a name that no one can pronounce. But I’m secretly laughing to myself at the idiocracy of the American parents who insist on naming their child a Gaelic name.

Yep.

[Anonymous]

Do what you want, but your daughter will spend the rest of her life correcting people.

[Anonymous]

I say middle name. I think that is enough of a nod to your heritage.

Alternatively, do you have an irish last name? You could hyphenate or give her your maiden name as a last name, and then defer to DH for the first name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not this again. The answer is no, don’t give your child an Irish name. Since you don’t live in Ireland and you are just an American who has some Irish ancestry, it makes absolutely no sense.

As someone who actually grew up in Ireland, it truly baffles me why Americans do this!

America is a blend of all cultures. Would you tell someone of Italian ancestry that they can’t name their kid Giovanni, for example? Any easily pronounced Irish name is common in the US. The only issue is how difficult it would be for others to pronounce Saorsie.

[Anonymous]

My DD has a not-easily-pronounced Irish name (although not as bad as Soirse) and, while most people say it's a pretty name, she does have to constantly tell them how to pronounce it and forget spelling it. I don't think most of her friends can spell it correctly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not this again. The answer is no, don’t give your child an Irish name. Since you don’t live in Ireland and you are just an American who has some Irish ancestry, it makes absolutely no sense.

As someone who actually grew up in Ireland, it truly baffles me why Americans do this!

America is a blend of all cultures. Would you tell someone of Italian ancestry that they can’t name their kid Giovanni, for example? Any easily pronounced Irish name is common in the US. The only issue is how difficult it would be for others to pronounce Saorsie.

I get the concern about spelling, but I don't get why Irish, and only Irish, names require some sort of proof of recent connection. Why do I have to prove I'm Irish to use Sean, when no one screams about how I need to prove I'm English to use Henry?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not this again. The answer is no, don’t give your child an Irish name. Since you don’t live in Ireland and you are just an American who has some Irish ancestry, it makes absolutely no sense.

As someone who actually grew up in Ireland, it truly baffles me why Americans do this!

America is a blend of all cultures. Would you tell someone of Italian ancestry that they can’t name their kid Giovanni, for example? Any easily pronounced Irish name is common in the US. The only issue is how difficult it would be for others to pronounce Saorsie.

I get the concern about spelling, but I don't get why Irish, and only Irish, names require some sort of proof of recent connection. Why do I have to prove I'm Irish to use Sean, when no one screams about how I need to prove I'm English to use Henry?

The Irish are clannish.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Woah I didn't expect people to have this much to say! I'm actually a Maeve so that's not an option for DD but I appreciate all the thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Please don’t saddle your child with that name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Unless you name your kid something Native American, or Mormon, or African American, it's probably going to be a name that didn't originate in America. If your heritage is Irish, then an Irish name makes sense.

But you don't need to pick the very hardest names to spell. Saoirse, Caoimhe, Aoife, are too hard. The issue, to me, is less the teacher not knowing how to pronounce it (they'll learn) and more the work email that goes astray because someone mistyped Saoirse as Soairse or as Saorsie or something.

I'd either pick something that's got no more than one difficult feature spelling wise -- like Ciara, or something like Maeve or Eilish that has an Americanized spelling. There are lots of beautiful options.

I also wouldn't name a kid a very political name.

Lordy. I'm pro-Saoirse, but I work with a Ciara, pronounced Keera, and she has coworkers who have worked with her for over a decade who still pronounce her name See-yar-a.

That's on them, though. Don't pander to those who can't be respectful.

It isn’t on them though. It will be on your kid. Almost every encounter will start with someone being confused. I can’t imagine how annoying that would be or how much that would put me at a disadvantage to the people with whom encounters avoid that hurdle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not this again. The answer is no, don’t give your child an Irish name. Since you don’t live in Ireland and you are just an American who has some Irish ancestry, it makes absolutely no sense.

As someone who actually grew up in Ireland, it truly baffles me why Americans do this!

America is a blend of all cultures. Would you tell someone of Italian ancestry that they can’t name their kid Giovanni, for example? Any easily pronounced Irish name is common in the US. The only issue is how difficult it would be for others to pronounce Saorsie.

The problem is that many Irish names are unique in that they don’t follow standard English spelling rules. There would be no fuss if op wanted to name her child Maeve or Nora or Kathleen or Eileen. The issue is the proper Irish pronunciation of Saiorse deviates wildly from the American pronunciation rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not this again. The answer is no, don’t give your child an Irish name. Since you don’t live in Ireland and you are just an American who has some Irish ancestry, it makes absolutely no sense.

As someone who actually grew up in Ireland, it truly baffles me why Americans do this!

America is a blend of all cultures. Would you tell someone of Italian ancestry that they can’t name their kid Giovanni, for example? Any easily pronounced Irish name is common in the US. The only issue is how difficult it would be for others to pronounce Saorsie.

I get the concern about spelling, but I don't get why Irish, and only Irish, names require some sort of proof of recent connection. Why do I have to prove I'm Irish to use Sean, when no one screams about how I need to prove I'm English to use Henry?

The Irish are clannish.

That’s quite true actually.