Classic old Irish/Gaelic girls’ names

[Anonymous]

like Efa

[Anonymous]

Erin
Orla
Clare

My favorite is Orla.

[Anonymous]

Iseult

[Anonymous]

My grandmother -- Elizabeth, straight outta Roscommon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oona, Colleen, Ciara (KEE-ra), Eileen/Aileen.

Most common name in Ireland!

[Anonymous]

Please don’t do Aiofe or Saorise. They’re so overdone by wannabe hipsters I wouldn’t use them even if I were Irish.
How about Cara or Fiona?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aoibhe is pronounced differently to Aoife.

US pronunciations of Irish names can cause problems the other direction too - when I first moved here, I met more than one Caitlin, and I pronounced it as we would in Ireland (Cat-leen), and managed to offend people Another time, I told someone how their surname (Coughlan) would be pronounced at home in Irl (Kock-lan) and they got very offended (apparently here it's pronounced koff-lin!)

Thanks I didn't know it was a different name!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aoibhe is pronounced differently to Aoife.

US pronunciations of Irish names can cause problems the other direction too - when I first moved here, I met more than one Caitlin, and I pronounced it as we would in Ireland (Cat-leen), and managed to offend people Another time, I told someone how their surname (Coughlan) would be pronounced at home in Irl (Kock-lan) and they got very offended (apparently here it's pronounced koff-lin!)

Thanks I didn't know it was a different name!

The girl I knew was named Aoife told me she wished her name was Anna because she was tired of correcting people!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Move to Chicago! I can easily recognize and pronounce every name in this thread as can most of my friends.

-Bridget Kathleen

Just watch "Irish People Try " on Youtube and you will learn them all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Move to Chicago! I can easily recognize and pronounce every name in this thread as can most of my friends.

-Bridget Kathleen

Yup! Or Boston.

Or Philadelphia!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ailish, Sinead, Saoirse, Roisin, Mairead, Dierdre, Fiona, Maeve

+1 Ailish is adorable.

Classmate’s name is spelled Alis, pronounce “A lish”

At my school Alls is pronounced Ah-leece (Soanish pronunciation)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Erin
Orla
Clare

My favorite is Orla.

isn't it Orlaugh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I lived in Ireland for a while and everyone my age (I’m 36 now) was named Mary, Sarah, or Sinead. While I was there, I certainly butchered my way through some of names at first, like Aoife. I got there in the end but the pronunciations of some are not straightforward. I’d say that if you want something that screams IRISH but that most Americans will be ok with, you should go with Maeve or Sinead or Fiona.

Aoife is pronounced EEF-UH, right?

Yeah. Took me a while to understand that the ‘Eva’s I was meeting weren’t Eva, but Aoife. And that Aow-fee is not a name.

I love the name Roisin but don’t think I’d choose it, because of the Roy-zin pronunciation that people would inevitably give her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oona, Colleen, Ciara (KEE-ra), Eileen/Aileen.

Most common name in Ireland!

So the same as Kyra/Kira? Not Kee-ar-ah?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ailish, Sinead, Saoirse, Roisin, Mairead, Dierdre, Fiona, Maeve

+1 Ailish is adorable.

Classmate’s name is spelled Alis, pronounce “A lish”

At my school Alls is pronounced Ah-leece (Soanish pronunciation)

Spanish? What?
Like Elise?