10 Unpronounceable Irish Baby Names That’ll Wreck Your Kid’s Head For Life

So we love baby names, the more unusual, the better and we Irish are pretty lucky in that we have a wealth of gorgeous baby names that provide the dual purpose of honouring our heritage while baffling the world at large with their strings of consecutive consonants and random fadas. Disclaimer: Every time I write a piece about Irish baby names, it proves virtually impossible to satisfy everyone's staunchly held views on correct pronunciation and spelling. So apologies in advance: If your pronunciation or spelling differs from mine – as any Sadhbh or Sive or Saibh or Sadbh will tell you: it's not always easy to settle on the definitive spelling or pronunciation for our unique names! 10 Unpronounceable Irish Baby Names That'll Make the J1 Extra Fun: 1. Seanán Meaning: Diminutive of Seán, Irish version of John How it will be pronounced: Cee-an-an How it should be pronounced (I think): Well I knew one Seanán who called himself 'Shinawn', but I've also heard it pronounced 'Shawnawn'! 2. Eoghan Meaning: Born of the Yew tree (appara) How it will be pronounced: Eee-OG-an How it should be pronounced (I think): Oh-win. 3. Coillte Meaning: Forrest How it will be pronounced: Koyle-TEA How it should be pronounced (I think): Qweelche (let the berating of my attempt to pronounce Coillte commence in the comments!) 4. Líadain Meaning: Grey lady How it will be pronounced: Lya-dane How it should be pronounced (I think): Lea-dan or Lea-dawn – again I know two people who say their names differently. 5. Síbeail Meaning: God is my oath, Irish form of Isabel How it will be pronounced: Sib-WHAAAAAA? How it should be pronounced (I think): Shib-ale 6. Raghnall Meaning: Strong How it will be pronounced: To rhyme with urinal How it should be pronounced: To rhyme with urinal 7. Clodagh Meaning: Irish river name How it will be pronounced: Clod-ag or Clod-hag How it should be pronounced: Clo-dah 8. Aoibheann Meaning: Fair or beautiful How it will be pronounced: Aye-oh-been How it should be pronounced: Ave-een or Eve-een 9. Tadhg Meaning: Poet, philosopher How it will be pronounced: Tad-hig, Tad-gee How it should be pronounced: Ty-ge 10. Sinéad Meaning: God is gracious How it will be pronounced: Sin-ee-aahd How it should be pronounced: Shin-ade Do you have an unusual Irish name? Tell us about the crimes against your moniker in the comments...