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Baby names

26th Jun 2021

11 beautiful Irish baby names – that might prove a nightmare when you go abroad

Trine Jensen-Burke

We are lucky to have so many beautiful – and unique – baby names at our disposal.

Names that tie us to our history, mythology, culture and ancestors.

And we know that many modern-day parents love passing these historically uniquely Irish names on to their little ones.

However, beautiful and unique as these monikers are – and they really are – they sure can pose a bit of a challenge when you encounter foreigners or travel abroad.

The Irish names you might run into some confusion with when leaving Ireland? Well, these ones for sure:

1. Sadhbh

Despite the tricky spelling, the pronunciation is actually rather straightforward – Sive. However, you might need to point this out a few times to anyone not Irish!

2. Donnchadh

Just watch them sweat trying to get this one right. A tip when explaining the name: Remember the ‘ch’ here is pronounced as a ‘k’. And the ‘dh’ is totally silent….Don-Acka.

3. Caoimhe

You might get a lot of ‘caym-hey’ or ‘kohm-hey’ when someone non-Irish first sees this name spelt. However, if you need an easy way to phonetically spell it out to someone, just tell them it’s ‘Kwee-va.’

4. Oisín

Another one that is bound to cause some confusion. Relax – it’s just ‘o-shin.’

5. Siobhán

As a foreigner, I totally pronounced this name is Sio-ban for the first few months in Ireland. Until somebody was kind enough to tell me it’s simply Shiv-wan.

6. Domnhall

Nope, it’s not ‘Dom-nal’ but rather ‘Dough-null.’ Geddit?

7. Aoife

I went to a wedding once, where the (foreign) priest pronounced the bride’s name as ‘Oafy’ – when, it was, of course, Aoife. Ee-fa. Simples.

8. Tadhg

Tag? Tad? Nope, it’s ‘Tii-ge.’

9. Grainne

No, it’s not ‘Granny’ or ‘Grainy’ – but rather ‘Gro-nja’ – I know, I struggled too!

10. Ruaidhri

Just imagine a Starbucks barista trying to get this one right! Say it with us, it’s simple ‘rue-ree.’

11. Meadhbh

You can literally envision people turning pale trying to figure out how the heck to pronounce this name. Well, it’s just ‘May-ve’ – see, easy?!