Is Saoirse cruel?

[Anonymous]

I hope, OP, that you aren't going to put stock in the naysayers here.

Your daughter is already Saoirse. Name her Saoirse. Spell it the Celtic way. She will be FINE! She will love her name and her heritage - the Irish, after all, saved civilization, and they are some of the fiercest and greatest freedom fighters in the world.

Don't name your daughter some dull, easy to spell name. SAOIRSE!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1

[Anonymous]

Middle name. You can use it all you want but for paperwork purposes please use it as a middle name.

[Anonymous]

If you love it, go for it. There are never guarantees with pronunciation. I can’t tell you how many times people have butchered names I thought were simple - I had no idea people didn’t know how to pronounce Eliza for example, which is one of my kid’s names. But seriously half the people who see it in writing freeze or say “uh … eh …. Eh-li-ssa?” Or how many people call me by nicknames I don’t use just because they are common for my name.

And while it depends where you live, if you’re in the DC area there are tons of unusual names from many languages. There are always at least five kids on the roster of each of my kids’ classes whose names I have no idea how to pronounce. But if my kids become friends with them, I learn. Not a big deal.

[Anonymous]

It’s a little try-hard, especially since her last name won’t even be Irish. Saorsie Bernardi or something just sounds wrong. And to be perfectly honest, since it’s anonymous, even a Saorsie OConnell born and raised in the USA with a non Irish parent sounds like you’re trying to make her into something (an Irish girl) that she’s not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I think she is saying the nickname would be Seri (Sair-ee) to align with the first syllable sound (Ser or Sair) of Saoirse and not Sahree like the Indian clothing item.

[Anonymous]

People eventually figured out Siobhan! They will figure out Saoirse too. Especially since the actor talks about how to say her name all the time - it is more commonly heard

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you love it, go for it. There are never guarantees with pronunciation. I can’t tell you how many times people have butchered names I thought were simple - I had no idea people didn’t know how to pronounce Eliza for example, which is one of my kid’s names. But seriously half the people who see it in writing freeze or say “uh … eh …. Eh-li-ssa?” Or how many people call me by nicknames I don’t use just because they are common for my name.

And while it depends where you live, if you’re in the DC area there are tons of unusual names from many languages. There are always at least five kids on the roster of each of my kids’ classes whose names I have no idea how to pronounce. But if my kids become friends with them, I learn. Not a big deal.

IMO if the child is Indian American, speaks Hindi with grandparents, is growing up in a classic Indian American culture, then having an Indian American name makes total sense, no one bats an eye. But if it’s a child whose mother is Indian American and whose father is white, and they are not part of an Indian American cultural, having a name like Daksha Smith is a little bit like making her life hard for no real reason. In my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I think she is saying the nickname would be Seri (Sair-ee) to align with the first syllable sound (Ser or Sair) of Saoirse and not Sahree like the Indian clothing item.

Which would make sense if Saoirse was pronounced SAIR Sha. But it isn't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a little try-hard, especially since her last name won’t even be Irish. Saorsie Bernardi or something just sounds wrong. And to be perfectly honest, since it’s anonymous, even a Saorsie OConnell born and raised in the USA with a non Irish parent sounds like you’re trying to make her into something (an Irish girl) that she’s not.

Plus, second, third and so on generations of Irish Americans are more American than Irish. If you're an Irish immigrant, I might understand you picking that name. If you're not even 25% Irish, it smacks of cultural appropriation. It's not Saint Patty's day and we are not all Irish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People eventually figured out Siobhan! They will figure out Saoirse too. Especially since the actor talks about how to say her name all the time - it is more commonly heard

Yeah but people spell it Shivan now too (some of them).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a mess. Sari said like hair? How in the Irish Catholic Church is that going to make sense in the US?! You're going to call your daughter hair? What?

Nobody will pronounce it right unless they're Irish and nobody will spell the vowels right in the right order.

I know ... you almost had me convinced until the end.

I'm 100% Irish. I want to tell you to go for it. But I have so many questions.

First of all, Saoirse Ronan made a lovely video explaining how to say her name, and it's STILL not clear. The Irish pronunciation is so subtle. I can do it. You can probably do it. Most Americans -- no way.

Second of all, no one will spell it correctly.

Third of all, if you DO call her Saoirse, please don't box her into Sari. Just lean in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you love it, go for it. There are never guarantees with pronunciation. I can’t tell you how many times people have butchered names I thought were simple - I had no idea people didn’t know how to pronounce Eliza for example, which is one of my kid’s names. But seriously half the people who see it in writing freeze or say “uh … eh …. Eh-li-ssa?” Or how many people call me by nicknames I don’t use just because they are common for my name.

And while it depends where you live, if you’re in the DC area there are tons of unusual names from many languages. There are always at least five kids on the roster of each of my kids’ classes whose names I have no idea how to pronounce. But if my kids become friends with them, I learn. Not a big deal.

IMO if the child is Indian American, speaks Hindi with grandparents, is growing up in a classic Indian American culture, then having an Indian American name makes total sense, no one bats an eye. But if it’s a child whose mother is Indian American and whose father is white, and they are not part of an Indian American cultural, having a name like Daksha Smith is a little bit like making her life hard for no real reason. In my opinion.

My best friend was adopted from India by white parents. Because she was two when they met her, she already had a beautiful Indian name. They briefly considered renaming her, but ultimately kept her original name adding their last name. Think Arpana Smith. She is culturally 100% American with no hint of Indian culture, save for her name. I think she is perfect and her name suits her.

[Anonymous]

I understand wanting to honor your heritage but I'd chose a name that is easier for Americans to pronounce. Like maybe Maeve? Or even something like Clodagh which at least is phonetically something Americans could pronounce.

With Saoirse - I've heard it pronounced Sur-sha most often but you're saying you want to say it like Saare-sha? With a long A? I don't think that is common.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People eventually figured out Siobhan! They will figure out Saoirse too. Especially since the actor talks about how to say her name all the time - it is more commonly heard

Yeah but people spell it Shivan now too (some of them).

I've also seen Shivon, Shivaughn, Shivonne. I have a coworker named Siobhan and she tactfully explains that hers is the Gaelic spelling. It is a beautiful name that has been butchered by Americans.