Opinions on Irish spelling of names?

Question

Both my husband and I are Irish and we live in NY. Currently TTC. Should we care what other people think if we want to name our children with names spelled the Irish way? Our personal favourites are Ruairí, Aoife and Cloddagh. I understand it may cause them difficulty as a lot of people won’t know how to pronounce their names.

Answer

I'm Irish (in Ireland) I think it completely takes away from our heritage if you change the spelling to accommodate Americans. Your children will have to correct people but it'll always be a conversation starter!

Answer

I'm not going to vote on your poll. You basically covered it all in your post. It really is your choice, it's your heritage. However, you may be setting your child up for a life time of spelling their name for others and correcting the pronouciation. It really is your decision, but I had considered Gaelic names and I would have spelt them the Gaelic way.

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go with ur gut we are using the name Saoirse and we love it yea in the states we will have to correct people on how to spell it or say it but we are okay with that

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I wanted to use the Irish spelling of Emily, Eimile. And my husband said “eww no”. That being said if your husband is on board I say go for it. Your kids can always use the English spellings later on if they want.

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If it's important to you, then stick with the Irish spelling.

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I think at least the last two are familiar enough that it won't be a massive problem. but if you're in NYC, it's a melting pot of people from all over the world so people ought to be okay with learning an unfamiliar name and then using it properly

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No, why should you care?! Name your baby fitefjkgg for all you wish.

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Are you planning to stay in the US?  If so, I'd consider the fact that your child will be an American with Irish heritage vs Irish living in America.  I say that only because while I believe  in respecting, preserving and paying homage to ones family history, there's something to be said for ensuring your child has a name that is as easily pronounced where he/she will grow up as where you did.    Maybe that just means adapting the spelling or finding a Gaelic name that you love without a difficult pronunciation in English.

Opinions on Irish spelling of names?

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