How to pronounce IRISH NAMES 🇮🇪 + what they MEAN 🤔

Dia daoibh 👋🏻🥰 I hope you enjoy this video 😁 it’s great to upload again! I missed you all 💚 Just a few things to correct. 1. Niall is pronounced in Irish as ‘nyee-al’ and the anglicised pronunciation is the one that I say in the video. 2. Aoibhinn is generally pronounced by people as ‘ay-veen’, the way that I say it in the video but to be true to the Irish pronunciation, it should be ‘eve-inn’ 3. Hence, Aoibheann should be pronounced ‘Eve-Anne’ / ‘Eve-on’, depending on which dialect you go by. I would go with the former pronunciation and I actually know someone with the anglicised version of this name ‘Eavan’ and her name is pronounced ‘Eve-anne’ 4. Lastly 😂 Aoibha SHOULD be pronounced ‘Ee-va’ like ‘Eva’ 😊 but some people do pronounce it ‘Ay-va’ like Ava. I hope that clears up any questions you might have 😊 sometimes you have to take a step back from something to realise where you’re going wrong 😅 Slán, Molly x

Our wee community is growing 🤩

[@iamaginger]

Dia duit molley , can you make a video about pronouncing Dearbhla or Dearbhlia because its a old name and people can't pronounce it properly?

[@mackereltabbie]

So Niall should sound like the Norwegian version, Njål?

[@Buecherfreak16]

@@mrhatty2085 thank you, I was actually wondering how to pronounce Eithne. Do you know how to pronounce "Máire"? Is it actually "Moya" ? I love Enya and Clannad and I know the their Irish names are written differently than their English names, but I was wondering if they sound the same.

[@daranodoch]

@@mrhatty2085 Many of us are still under British occupation, and all of us exist in the Anglophone hegemony.

[@ltmg9832]

I’m not Irish but I’m Polynesian - and I honestly love the Gaelic spelling to these names. Rather than the anglicised names. It’s like preserving the culture when you go by sticking with the true Irish spelling I think. I taught a Niamh in my class, and not only did we learn her name, but we learnt other Irish names because we wanted to. Then later on, we had an Aoife, Siobhan and Caoimhe. Their parents were shocked and so happy that we got their names right on their first day of school. Telling us that even though it’s something so small, like getting their kids names right, they felt welcomed it really warmed their hearts (Saying hi from Sydney, Australia) 💚💫

[@interrexclamacion]

It's necessarily preserving the culture, old Irish was written in Ogham, not the Latin alphabet, the modern spellings are just an anglization of the original Irish words.

[@patrickr9417]

You don't preserve a culture by just spelling a name unfortunately.

[@PotterheadMando]

​@@patrickr9417But at least it helps, though.

[@shamonetoting4933]

I am not Irish, but I heard Irish was a dying language. As soon as I Googled that, found out it was true, I started a course a Duolingo (Irish) and subscribed.

[@goingmouch3753]

You hear correct..the native Irish are being wiped out by multiculturalism

[@shamonetoting4933]

@@goingmouch3753 Yeah, it sucks, because the irish language is so cultural

[@simonchambers2321]

Me too

[@jeanpaulgartier3404]

@@goingmouch3753 diversity is our strength 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Buecherfreak16]

@@sos_hodad oh my god, go raibh maith agat! I am learning Irish too at the moment, even though I am not irish and don't live in Irland. (But I absolutely love Enya and Clannad and wish to understand their language) It's very difficult for me to learn since english is my second language as well and on duolingo I always have translate it first in English and than into German.

[@jeanetted3727]

Your totally full off charm girrrll!!

Aw thank you 🥰

[@matthorvath9951]

After watching Song of the Sea, I fell in love with the name Saoirse. So much so in fact that my pup has that name. It's always fun spelling it or pronounce it for people.

[@orlastarburst]

I love song of the sea

[@d.a.i.s.i.e.s]

My name is Liberty and I don’t really like it but I absolutely LOVE that it translates to Saoirse because its such a beautiful name. Liberty doesn’t usually translate as a name in other languages (with a few exceptions, of course!) so that makes me love the Irish one even more.

[@bevblackburn8686]

I really wanted to call my daughter Liberty but was over ruled. It's an unusual, beautiful name but I agree Saoirse is beautiful too.

[@comradebeaver19]

it's difficult when there is such a big difference between writing and pronunciation, even in names, but it sounds so beautiful. just want the Irish to be alive. Love Ireland

[@faramund9865]

Not quite. It's very similar to normal Latin pronunciation. Just the gh fh mh bh etc. which is called 'Lenition'.

[@OlgasBritishFells]

It's not different if you know how to read in Gaelic

[@mysty8089]

I have been wanting to go to Ireland for ages but wanted to learn some before going so I dropped a sub and am now watching your videos

[@thomasdolby8929]

I just found your videos and very much enjoy them. Seeing how to pronounce words is extremely helpful. Great job!!!

[@mjcal96]

My dad was raised in Ireland but he never taught me Gaelic. it has been so hard to teach myself as all my Gaelic speaking family lives in Ireland. Your channel is awesome! Between you and Duolingo I’m hoping to make some headway. Slainte!

[@faramund9865]

Thank you!

[@grayfox6930]

Your commentary is just like how i talk and its so entertaining from a third person perspective💚

Aw thank you 😅

[@twangbarfly]

Absolutely loved this!!! Fun and informative - what more could you ask for?

[@liliana6715]

I love how I’m discovering that many names in English actually derive from Irish names or are anglosized versions of them. And how ignorant I was about the meanings ❤ so beautiful

[@cly-9128]

I'm an American but all my grandparents were born in Ireland. My middle name is tadhg. It's very useful as a conversation starter to have people look at my name on my ID and have them try to pronounce it.

[@UrbanSipfly]

Not only is there a STRONG LIKELIHOOD 💪 that I might mispronounced or have mispronounced some of these listed Irish names, but more than that I'd say, I never knew the names listed on this list of Irish names even existed!

[@Margherita_Dolcevita_Languages]

That's so interesting! Thank you for this video 😍🙏🏼

[@ryanthomasmcguirewelch2195]

I really appreciate your effort showing how the irish language is spoken! God bless

[@TheABCKevin]

Thank you for yet another wonderful and informative video, Molly! Prior to watching this I had only heard of a handful of Irish names, mostly from celebrities like Cillian Murphy, Domhnall Gleeson, and of course, the great Saoirse Ronan haha. Funnily enough, my parents gave me a name that's apparently a variant spelling of the Irish name, Caolán (according to Wikipedia at least), yet I'm Chinese lol

[@kobito610]

Great video Molly thanks!

Go raibh maith agat 🥰

[@denniscrowli]

Have not even watched it yet but I know it will be amazing!

Haha go raibh maith agat 😊

[@denniscrowli]

Gaeilge i mo chroí tá fáilte romhat lol

[@megiski3116]

- Aoibha sounds similar to Hungarian Éva [ ˈeːvɒ], more like in a dialect. - I heard something similar to Gráinne in the Iron Druid novels by the name of Granuaile. - Though not mentioned in the video, also from the Iron Druid is Siodhachan, who is the main characer of the series. There are a lot of Irish names and characters in it, being that the main characters are Irish. - Similar to Meadhbh I heard in the Dresden Files novels, though there it's spelled Maeve. She it most definatle intoxicating...

[@aliciadiaz1026]

I have just discovered your channel, I´m from Argentina and I have always thought that Ireland is a great and beautiful country. I´m planning to go there in a couple of years. I suscribe to your channel because I think your content is fantastic and useful! Thanks a lot!!! Greetings from Argentina!

[@gojoxsanzo]

As a french living in Ireland this video is veryyyy helping, I always have a hard time when people tell me their name and I have to write this down, it is terrible, but now thanks to you it'll be a lot easier. Also with name I sometime stumble on some weird things like I am moving to a place which is written on the papers and maps as: "Gortboy" "gortby" or "gortbui", and I was very puzzeled about it, then an Irish friend told me it is from the Irish for "gort". field and "buí". yellow, so yellow field. Now I can remember it, like it (a lot) and write/ pronounce it correctly. \(^-^)/ Thanks for all your enlightening videos, I love them.

So glad I could help 🥰

[@KhayieYt]

Oh my gosh finally someone have some irish content, hiii miss im kay and im a huge fan of ireland maybe becuz its unique in its own way

[@joanaloneathome]

Hi! It's Jana from Switzerland, my name is another form of Joanne! I think it's so interesting how different one and the same name can change!! Also I love your channel, keep going you're great!

You have a beautiful name 😍

[@simonchambers2321]

Tadgh Keneally played Australian Football for the Sydney Swans. The commentators made sure they pronounced his name correctly.

[@peggyjones3282]

Tadgh Coneely was a character in Secret of Roan Inish. I love that film.

[@Davidislandlife]

Great stuff thanks, i live in Asia and really want to re-learn my language

[@pompikaushal4604]

Dia dhuit Molly ! What an amazing video I'm really impressed!I've never seen a better video! I really love a name Seán, very common often mispronounced but I love it!?You are unrivalled!Cén físeán iontach táim an-tógtha! Go raibh maith agat agus slán tamall!

Go raibh míle maith agat Pompi 😊💚💚

[@lmc3608]

Hi, i really enjoyed your video, the best of luck to you!!✨✨

[@bowbooks5659]

My name is Siobhan. Took me so long to love it! I’m English but my great grandmother came from Galway so I guess that was an influence?

[@bowbooks5659]

@@cooldaddy2877I have no fada

[@efthimiosmakris3476]

Great video Molly as always. Very useful to know about the Irish names,as there is conection with your mythology. We have also mythology in Greece, so I can understand all about the names as we use names from our mythology. Well done!!!!!!

Yes it’s very interesting isn’t it? Go raibh maith agat 😊

[@maevedillon3209]

I’m so glad my mom decided to name me Maeve! I love it so much.

[@rebeccaf5131]

I LOVE Siobán!! Have a sweet friend with that name & loved hearing about the language and meaning 🤍

[@sherryolander49]

Interesting about Brónagh! My grandmother's name is Dolores, which means pains in Spanish (latin root=sorrow) and she always thought it was a strange thing to name a child too.

[@therulesofblazon4201]

That was super fun! You just crush it when you let loose! Caint pick a fave Irish name cause I really do like em all. Wish I had one, for realz. Go raibh maith agat, looking forward to the next one!

Haha go raibh maith agat 😂

[@alexanderrados671]

I'm an American trying to connect better with my Irish roots, my great grandfather immigrated here and now here I am so many years later! I don't have all the much Irish left in me, but it's one of the parts of my heritage that I most strongly connect with. I've been using your videos along with Duolingo to help me get a better grasp on the language, and I popped over to this video to take a little break from the studying and just learn some neat new names. I never realized how many people I know have Irish names, and how common they really are over here in the states! Love the content you're putting out, it makes the whole process of learning all the linguistic rules and whatnot MUCH less intimidating, especially when I know its coming from a good source. keep up the good work! Agus, go raibh maith agat!

[@lisatimoney6703]

I just found your channel. I love it. I am from Donegal and my cousins name is Bronagh and was always told it meant dark raven hair. I may be wrong but it's worth looking into

[@itscolleenhere]

Ever since I heard it I've always really liked the name Caiomhe

[@patricknagle7848]

thanks for the teachings....just started learning Irish although I've read it before in both translations... best for summer

[@马丁金]

love the new hairstyle

[@DaneTygheletsdrive]

*You are brilliant!*

Go raibh maith agat 😅

[@LouiseEgan]

My name is Louise, but now I know that if/when I go to Éireann, I will say, "Is mise Laoise" -- nice rhyme!

[@vladdziuba5510]

Timestamps: 1. Aine - 1:22 2. Aisling - 1:37 3. Aoibhinn - 1:44 4. Aoibha - 2:30 5. Aoife - 2:47 6. Bronagh - 3:12 7. Caragh - 3:43 8. Caoimha - 3:57 9. Ciara - 4:16 10. Eimear - 4:44 11. Éireann- 4:59 11. Gráinne - 5:22 12. Laoise - 5:46 13. Meadhbh - 6:16 14. Muireann - 7:00 15. Niamh - 7:38 16. Orlaith - 7:43 17. Riona - 7:49 18. Róisín - 7:55 19. Saoirse - 8:17 20. Sinéad - 8:30 21. Siobhán - 8:38 22. Sionainn - 9:22 23. Sorcha - 9:43 1. Aodhan - 10:42 2. Brian - 10:56 3. Brénainn - 11:17 4. Ciaran - 11:36 5. Cillian - 11:56 6. Conor - 12:03 7. Fearghal - 12:10 8. Fionn - 12:20 9. Liam - 12:33 10. Niall - 12:42 11. Odhrán - 12:53 12. Oisín - 13:07 13. Oscar - 13:23 14. Pádraig - 13:40 15. Rian - 13:45 16. Ruairí - 13:53 17. Seán - 14:01 18. Tadhg - 14:14

[@bugglemagnum6213]

you missed Cian bc she didnt put the words up on screen for it

[@vladdziuba5510]

@@bugglemagnum6213 Thanks, what's the timestamp for Cian?

[@colinjames7569]

Love learning Gaelige thank you and u are hilarious!🤣dead

[@lindaincolorado2646]

My father's great grandfather was from Northern Ireland from what I have found. Hard to trace, 3 generations in Montreal. But his surname traces back to King Niall, and I hope to learn some Irish.

[@MarcelGomesPan]

My favorite is ”Órlaith”. When i lived in Co Cork ( i’m Swedish ) there was an Órlaith there. I always liked ”Siobhan” to be honest. My own name often got…”Irishized” to Marcas or Marcus.

Little pale green one... sounds like someone describing a bug they found on their plants xD I'm happy that now I know how to pronounce these names, and some are so beautiful that I might use them in my stories. Thank you so much!

fáilte romhat 💚

[@greytmom2008]

My first name is the surname of my great grandmother (her maiden name). Her first name was Flax! So glad I got her last name.

[@languageoffootball]

So “Os” is old Irish for Deer? Oscar is interesting then in the fact that people seem to assume it’s English or from continental Europe but it’s actually completely Irish minus a single ‘a’ at the end meaning ‘deer’ (Os) and ‘friend’ (cara). Like you, I learnt deer to be be ‘fia’ but my Irish is basic.

Yes this one was really interesting to me!

[@jangowan5742]

Enya,is just my favourite composer..and you are called go T -hallinn..if I could just kiss,..how would I say that?..like Kiss,as in Kiss,lol

[@TheMania56]

@ Oskar, or "Ansgar", in germanic means "God with Spear/Spear of the Gods" Ase=God / Ger=Spear Is there the same Name with two different meanings? That would be really intresting

[@ronaxabernax8595]

I Love The Irish Gaelic! It's a Language similar to the Elfic Language in LOTR, spoked by Elven People!!!

[@TheBridget272]

Oh, I think Siobhán is lovely. I've always liked it. I've never met a Siobhán.

[@johncook7281]

I will send more compliments soon; for today April 20/ 21 I like that you leave in bloopers as some call them. Funny mistakes one could say.

[@kingofthejungle3833]

Love your work so far, I've only just found your channel, and I'll continue to follow, serious question though, has Ruairi ever been adopted as a family name?

[@sankey1988]

I have a Senan, Fionn and Sadhbh. I get compliments on their names all the time :)

[@sankey1988]

We say it like it's spelled but the other way is more traditional I suppose. I heard the name on tg4 one night when I couldn't sleep. It was an interview with a man who had reached the age of 100 and lived in a tiny house in the middle of nowhere. His name was Senan and I fell in love with name and knew that's what we would call our baby if he was a boy 🥰

[@redbeki]

I've never heard sorcha... that's really nice ...

[@jericohen120]

I am named for my grandfather's favorite mountain in Co. Donegal - Errigal. Born in the US my mother added 2 more letters to change it into a regional Southern US boy girl name. Its JeriGale Cohen Fitzgibbon Shane. Love your channel!

[@TheGragar1]

I would like to see videos from you explaining how verbal nouns work the rules ECT. And does counting nouns work the same as counting numbers?

[@sgtmas]

Hi Mollly I just subbed, thanks for the content you created. Very educative. Interesting how many of them are similar to slavic names by pure coincidence. Saoirse=Sasha, Bronagh=Bronka(diminutive of Bronisława), Aina=Anya, etc. I missed Deirdre here. Cheers!

[@joelee5986]

Hey, great vid :) just wanted to ask how one would pronounce ridhcheall?

[@geovanniali6060]

Brilliant molly

Go raibh maith agat ☺️

[@geovanniali6060]

@ Go ndeana se maith duit

[@dodimcnelis453]

The voice change is hilarious ahaa.. Good craic😂

[@cyberstarrr]

Watching this again cuz I’m making a scratch project about this ^^

[@KC-wi4gh]

Just saw your Channel for the first time today Molly. I have enjoyed the few videos I've seen. Your good sense of humour I think would help me continue to study Irish which I do in my spare time Is mise le meas, Ciarán.

[@01real1]

7:01 - Is the Irish Muireann maybe anglicized to Maureeen? Very interesting video. :-)

[@beetoven8193]

Maedhbh means intoxicating? Yeah, that makes sense. All those consonants would make me slur my words, too!

😂😂

[@mollyannSmyth]

Hi, Love your videos. I am from Belfast but now live in Canada. I have been trying to learn the Irish language and started with my name. I believe it is MallaidhAine MacGabhann. I would love to know how it is pronounced. Do you do videos that show how Irish words are pronounced - showing them phonetically?

[@Minnie11chula]

Áine is my fav cause my Mom called me that and pronounced it “Awn-ya”

[@gerrygwag]

I'm surprised Eithne isn't on your list. Also, Siobhan is a nice name

[@bdwon]

This is such a fun video. Ciara is also an Italian name, isn't it?

[@katrinamareen]

My Sister is named Siobhan. We are in Australia. She HATES her name. People don't know how to pronounce it, or spell it. She nicknamed herself Shabz.

[@languageoffootball]

She should be proud. It’s a lovely name.

I can imagine it would be annoying to have in a country where no one knows how to pronounce it 😅

[@niamh2541]

Thats my sister name

[@marcuszaja6589]

German guy here. I love Gaelic names. Favorite for boys "Tadhg" and for girls "Siobhán" (Sorry 😅).

[@kosmosvanhartland747]

Another favourite is Sinéad. Also because of the meaning. And then Sorcha, but, because of how it sounds. 💚

[@theirishexile2043]

Interestingly, the name of County Kerry (Ciarraí in Irish) has the same origins as the name Ciara coming from an ancient tribe who lived in the area who had a dark complexion or dark features.

[@mikeodiomasaigh6757]

Gotta love the Closed Captions and your final words after "bye guys"... "girl my goods august slam that." Funny...I thought you said "go raibh maith agat agus slan leat".

[@barbarae-b507]

My spouse is Irish his niece is Sorcha but is pronounced Sur-ika. There is also Alanna, Etaminn, the boys are Dara, Riurk( sp?), Cloudah( sp?), Colm, and many others. I do know that they are from Meath and Dublin.

[@rmcpolin1987]

Is eireannach mé (béal feirste), but live in Londáin. Called my children Niamh and Tadhg. God help them going to school here haha. Grma for the video

[@kotrena]

I'm a newbie fantasy writer and I love to give my characters Irish names because they sound celestial My favourite ones are Muireann and Aisling

[@marymchale5077]

My grandaughter is Saoirse McHale...Her dad is called Ronan....Aifric is her sister....another beautiful old Irish name❤❤

[@NiallNihilist1916]

Love this! some of the names I wasn't familiar to the meaning of. Many thanks for that ;) I'm also fond of the girl's name "Sadhbh" which aparently means "goodness". By the way, not that I'm in any way fluent in the Mother Tongue... but I do believe that Niall (my own name) is pronounced more like "Neil" or maybe "Nyee-al" as Gaeillge ;P

You’re correct! habits 😂 I realised this when it was too late

[@NiallNihilist1916]

Hehe not a bother. It's an all-too-common occurrence and easy done. Funny how in Scotland the name gets pronounced "Neil" which many people think is more anglicised and that "Nile" is more authentically "Gaelic". In fact, the opposite is true, I'd say!

[@sankey1988]

Sadhbh is my little girls name :)

[@niallmcstay6880]

Hi, Niall. I look forward to working together with you. Niall abú!

[@NiallNihilist1916]

@@niallmcstay6880 howye Niall :)

[@YIKism]

Great idea to give us the pronouncing of the names. Please let the letters of it longer in sight. I went sometimes more than four times backwarts to see the letters again to compair it and to understand better.

[@loganwhitworth6274]

gotta say, Caoimhín is probably my favourite. sad its not on this list

[@Shamrock3939]

We named our daughter Céilí. Basically got the idea from the song “Funky Céilí. I know it’s not traditionally a name but it’s pronounced like the name Caleigh.

[@stephenmcintyre7601]

What about Donnacha, Dónail, Dathaí- Dave/ David maybe??

[@oliviakay2936]

im irish and have cousins named aoife, sionainn, and aodhan, actually spelled like that. i think their names are absoulutely gorgeous but I also LOVE the name aine and bronagh and saorise and caoimhe. i also have a question. my dad's brother, my uncle, has a daugther named caiolinn, pronounced Kaylin, which I think is so pretty. I was wondering if it is a n uncommon name because it wasnt in theis video and its so prettty!!

[@jamesmcgowan8898]

I had actually looked up my last name a long time ago and I'm glad they actually got it right. We have not been saying it right though. Thank you.

[@jamesmcgowan8898]

@@cooldaddy2877 That it meant descendants of a blacksmith. Pretty sure that's what she said too but it's been a while since I watched this now.

[@PaulHattle]

I used to have a job picking customers up from Heathrow Airport. We used to have a lot of Irish folk coming in. I used to sit there thinking how do I pronounce their name - because I'm polite. Once I was told I was picking up a guy called Liam but it turned out to be a lady called Neave, doh, how embarrassing! Especially seeing as though I come from an Anglo-Irish family. Lovely name though. I really like Roisin too :) Thanks Molly for the enlightening video ;)

[@annareade]

I have cousins named Aine and Aiden, and my dad’s name is William Patrick!

[@sineadgordon]

Biased cuz my name is Sinead but it's my favourite ❤ Used to hate it because no one could read it but now I love it so much

[@davidhowell7901]

My wife's name: Marydon (mom+dad's name.) I, being from Alabama, shortened it to 'Mare i dn' and from your tutorial I've learned 'ine' means little...and she is... 5 foot tall and maybe 100 lbs. BUT a very powerful yet feminine women.❤

[@giselyenascimentoreis3936]

I love your channel. I live in Ireland and I had learning loads of things now with you. One day I want to learn gaelic. ❤❤❤❤❤❤ And my favourite name is Aoife😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@scotsirish1970]

my great great grannys name was cordilia look that up! gem of the sea in gailic!

Oh cool 🤩

[@billnicks2362]

No, no it isn't

[@bobcontreras7987]

I'm American, love Irish names, and named my two boys Kyle and Colin. What would be the Irish spelling and pronounciation for these names?

[@elainefogarty7097]

Go raibh maith agat a chara :) I love your style of teaching in these videos! Still working my way through them... Have you done one to explain use of the 'a' before the first name when addressing someone directly, and the pronunciation impact of that 'h' when it makes it's appearance in a name? I understand the concept but haven't learned the rules yet.

[@bt8593]

I think it relates to using the vocative case when addressing a person (as you did by writing "a chara", I believe). LinguaGuru Gaelic (iirc is the name of the YT channel) covers this in one of his videos (he teaches Scottish Gaelic) in which he talks about the given name "Seumas" being brought into English as Hamish--that being the vocative form. Totally an amateur linguist here, take with a grain of salt!

[@mollymarquis3554]

My name is Molly, and my sister was Siobhan!, but she changed it to Mairead (another Irish name) because she hated it so much.

[@emilecrowther8594]

You're a wonderful addition to a very hideous year! Goodluck and Godspeed in 2021! Oh If I ever have a boy I'm sold on Tadhg!

[@lilyraimey3499]

One thing I’ve noticed in Irish are the inconsistencies with the diphthongs. Like how Aoibha is “ay-va” and the diphthong is read as the desperate ‘ao+I’, BUT in Aoife it’s read as “Ee-fuh”, with the whole ‘aoi’ sound of the diphthong.

[@ernstraedecker6174]

Normally (mostly) ao is pronounced /i:/, English ee. The f in Aoife is followed by an e, making it slender. But a slender consonant also needs an i or e in front, so we end up with ife just to make the f slender. Hence Aoife (-> ee-f-uh). A slender f is pronounced differently from a broad f. Same for most consonants. Best example is s, which is pronounced broad as s and slender as sh. Unfortunately there are a lot of rules, subrules and subsubrules for the pronunciation of vowels or vowel combinations, depending on which consonants or consonant combinations either precede or follow the vowel. And then there are those pesky exceptions of course. So Aoibhe becomes ayve (Eva) instead of expected eeve, the bh being a v, in this case a slender v. The net result of all those extra e's and i's that surround consonants only to make these slender, is that you never know when they are just markers, and when you must actually pronounce them, and then how, e.g. in vowel combinations like ao, eo, io, oi, ai, ei, ia, ea. So the name Eoin becomes Owen. Who would have thought that? Well, eo is oftentimes /o:/ (long oh). The i makes the final n slender. And the w comes from nowhere, but is an inserted uh-sound. So we get oh-uh-n. We find this inserted uh also in the name Colm (-> kolluhm) and ainm (-> èh-n-yuh-m). Ainm means name. Hopeless. Welsh on the other hand is pretty much phonetic, once you know the thing with ff, ll, u and w.

[@wardentraijnor5660]

My family name when Anglicized became Treanor, from what little information I could gather it would have most likely been something along the lines of Mac Thréinfir. I wonder if the name has something to do with the fact that my ancestor, William Treanor, joined the Irish Volunteers in New York before the outbreak of the American Civil War. He could have come over to America to help train volunteers.

[@tomclohessy1050]

Fionnuala is a name not mentioned, Eileen (Eighlinn?) also...love Roisin, Orlaith, Grainne, Muireann, Ruari, and Tadhg....on the Murphy side of my family there were a lot of Hugh's...I gather it's a variant of Aodhan, which seems odd. I wonder if it has another origin; maybe from the Norman-French invaders. Thanks much for the names!

[@lovelyloops9889]

Can you help me with the pronunciation of the letter ‘e’ in the Ogham alphabet? I’ve seen Eadhadh and Eadh- is it eh-ya or is it Ada?