How to pronounce this name

[Squeaky McMurdo]

Well, as some of you may have heard there's a new baby on his/her way to the McMurdo residence due to arrive around Leap Day. The gender will be a surprise.

So... in keeping with the trend of giving our kids a Biblical name and a Gaelic name: How do you pronounce Deaglán? I'm liking the Anglicized version (Declan) but wanted to check and see if I like the original version better.

Oh and does it mean anything? The baby name sites say Unknown

[celt72]

I hope this helps some. It is from a book I have called "Celtic Baby Names" by Judy Sierra.
"Declan (DEK-lawn) Declan was the name of a 6th-century saint who founded the monastery of Ardmore in County Waterford. His fest day is July 24. Currently a popular name."

I actually met someone with this name here in Seattle. He had moved here a few years ago from Ireland. I think it is a great name.

[ForresterModern]

As someone who works with infants and children in significant numbers on a daily basis I can tell you that the name Declan started showing up in America first around 7-8 years ago and briefly rose in frequency for a couple years and then declined to a relatively small percentage for the last couple years. It is a name that will be easily pronounceable simply from its spelling, and not common enough that there will be three or four of them in his first grade class. I kind of like the looks of the Gaelic spelling but too wonder about the varied pronunciation, and how people who will be encountering his unusual version of the name will butcher it the first time they see it. If you do choose Gaelic please be prepared to be patient with the rest of the world who will undoubtedly get an unusual pronunciation wrong more often than right, as well as some frustrations from folks who do not understand why you didn't just call him "Bob" to make everyone's life simpler, and questions (sometimes strange) from others who will wonder about its origins and why you chose to give your child such a unique name.

I am not saying don't do it, merely that you will need to be prepared for the way the rest of the world will be interfacing with it and how that may affect initially you and your spouse and later your child. I see unusual and unique names every day, many lovely and lyrical, but unusual spellings and spellings which do not visually match the actual pronunciation due to dialect or other reasons often get mispronounced by people who are calling out your child's name say in a doctor's office or school auditorium. A lot of parents get upset when that mispronunciation occurs, despite no intended ill by those who mispronounce it I only mention this as to many parents it seems like a troublesome burden every time they have to correct (or simply tolerate in silence) a mispronunciation or explain the reasons behind their choice of names, and only later on realize that the child themselves will have to do the same when they are older.

I personally like uncommon names but prefer those whose pronunciation is simple and directly obvious from its spelling----my kids are Calvin, Madeleine, and Carter. In my business I see many ethnic names that I require some help with if I butcher the pronunciation the first time I encounter the child, but I always promise the parents that I will not butcher it a second time.

I too am curious to see what the pronuciation of the Gaelic variant will be from a native gaelic speaker. I do like the name Declan, too, though.

Congratulations on your wonderful news, and I pray that all goes swimmingly with the remainder of your pregnancy and childbirth, and that you are blessed with a beautiful and healthy infant, whatever you decide to name him/her.

jeff

[thescot]

I really like the name, and I like the Gaelic spelling. I would echo the rest of Jeff's thought though. Even my own last name requires explanation every time I give it. My standard comment is, "Two Ls, like a hitman." It's worth the trouble in my opionon, and I am glad my kids (who are grown now) don't have trendy names; there must have been 4 Jasons in every class they ever had.

My own children have biblical names as well: Gabriel and Elizabeth followed by family names.

[Tobus]

It's funny... I've been having a similar conversation elsewhere about baby names. I'm a big fan of unique names, especially ones that have a long history. But I dislike "popular" names, or ones that are "over the top" in ethnicity. Most people tend to think of their child's name in the context of schoolyard bullying, but it's also important to think of the name that he/she will carry as an adult. Imagine them being a doctor, lawyer, politician, etc. Would they be taken seriously with the name, or would it be a hindrance to them?

That said, I like Declan. I even like the Gaelic spelling of it. Having to correct people is not that big of a deal if you only use it as a "legal" spelling. For common usage, the child could use an Anglicized spelling. It's no different than other nickname variants like John for Jonathan, or Mike for Michael, or Bill for William. Lots of people sign their names for unofficial/non-legal stuff using nicknames or alternate spellings. So that would always be an option, even if the legal name is Gaelic.

[seanachie]

I kind of like the looks of the Gaelic spelling but too wonder about the varied pronunciation, and how people who will be encountering his unusual version of the name will butcher it the first time they see it. If you do choose Gaelic please be prepared to be patient with the rest of the world who will undoubtedly get an unusual pronunciation wrong more often than right, as well as some frustrations from folks who do not understand why you didn't just call him "Bob" to make everyone's life simpler, and questions (sometimes strange) from others who will wonder about its origins and why you chose to give your child such a unique name.

Jeff: I have cousins who speak Irish as their first language and teach the language in schools in the west of Ireland. They can explain passionately about the attempts to eradicate the Irish language and how speaking it could be considered a crime at one time.Keeping the language alive and relevant is important. So while none of my siblings nor I have a first name using the Irish spelling, I do for my second middle name, my niece and god daughter does for her first name as do others in the wider family. It is a point of pride and heritage. Taking Siobahn and changing it to Shivon or some other spelling makes a difference. Understandably, this can cause pronounciation and other issues but it can also provide an opportunity to share with people and educate them. I love the name Saiorse, the Irish word for freedom, and would never think of changing the spelling or to anglisicize it.

[Squeaky McMurdo]

In case anyone is curious, my daughters' names are Sariah Aibrean and Aislin Corin.

I have admittedly not yet thought of any girl names this go around

But I've consistently liked the name Declan James for a couple months now, and ran across the Gaelic spelling last night. It looks so nice...if it's pronounced Degg-lan or similar I could probably run with that without too many problems.


Funny side note, some people see Aislin's name and think it's pronounced Aslan...like the Narnia lion. I find this funny but I don't know if she will as a teen.

[ForresterModern]

Jeff: I have cousins who speak Irish as their first language and teach the language in schools in the west of Ireland. They can explain passionately about the attempts to eradicate the Irish language and how speaking it could be considered a crime at one time.Keeping the language alive and relevant is important. So while none of my siblings nor I have a first name using the Irish spelling, I do for my second middle name, my niece and god daughter does for her first name as do others in the wider family. It is a point of pride and heritage. Taking Siobahn and changing it to Shivon or some other spelling makes a difference. Understandably, this can cause pronounciation and other issues but it can also provide an opportunity to share with people and educate them. I love the name Saiorse, the Irish word for freedom, and would never think of changing the spelling or to anglisicize it.

Seanachie

I agree wholeheartedly with what you said, and hope that my post did not come off as being anti-ethnic name in any way. The difference is that, as you said, you see it as not a nuisance or offense that there may be issues with others pronunciation of a given unusual name, but rather you see it as a positive thing and an opportunity to share your heritage with others and educate them, something I roundly applaud. I only wished to explain IMHO how a name can potentially cause problems, what those might be, how those may impact you and your child in both short and longterm, as I and others above see them every day. I have no desire to squelch ethnicity and heritage in any form or expression, rather I relish it personally. Why else would a guy who is probably at least 20 generations removed from his last truly scottish ancestor start wearing clan tartan kilts at nearly 50 years of age if there at least was not some pride in his heritage?

As an example of how much I truly enjoy many of the ethnic names I encounter in my patient population, I still vividly remember and regularly recount the very lyrical and beautiful names of a pair of premature twin girls of Nigerian parents (I became very close with the parents )I took care of more than 25 years ago Funmilola and Adideyo-Kalinde with a last name equally lyrical which actually rhymed with Funmilola's name. Beautiful names for beautiful children. My only regret is that I do not remember the meanings of the names that the parents explained to me, which had powerful and wonderful meaning in their native language.

jeff

[creagdhubh]

Jeff: I have cousins who speak Irish as their first language and teach the language in schools in the west of Ireland. They can explain passionately about the attempts to eradicate the Irish language and how speaking it could be considered a crime at one time.Keeping the language alive and relevant is important. So while none of my siblings nor I have a first name using the Irish spelling, I do for my second middle name, my niece and god daughter does for her first name as do others in the wider family. It is a point of pride and heritage. Taking Siobahn and changing it to Shivon or some other spelling makes a difference. Understandably, this can cause pronounciation and other issues but it can also provide an opportunity to share with people and educate them. I love the name Saiorse, the Irish word for freedom, and would never think of changing the spelling or to anglisicize it.

Keep Scottish and Irish Gaelic alive!!!

http://www.savegaelic.org/

http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/index_gd.html


Slainte mhath...beannach'd libh,

[ForresterModern]

I really like the name, and I like the Gaelic spelling. I would echo the rest of Jeff's thought though. Even my own last name requires explanation every time I give it. My standard comment is, "Two Ls, like a hitman." It's worth the trouble in my opionon, and I am glad my kids (who are grown now) don't have trendy names; there must have been 4 Jasons in every class they ever had.

My own children have biblical names as well: Gabriel and Elizabeth followed by family names.

Thanks, Jim.

With respect to your "four Jasons" comment, I remember the first day of first grade (talking 1964 here) when the teacher discovered that we had 4 boys in the same class who were named Richard but went by the nickname Rick. The teacher arbitrarily and clearly in her own interest of diminishing effort and confusion in the classroom, decided that one of them would be Rick, one Ricky, one Rich, and one Richie, despite their parents request to not do so. I was friends with all of them all the way through high school, and unfortunately because we were all also expected in the classroom to use the assigned names rather than calling each Rick followed by their last name(or at least their last initial), the three who did not get called Rick by this first grade teacher went through 12 full grades of school labelled with Rich, Richie or Ricky in school while their families and really close friends were the only ones who called them by Rick. They were even listed with their inappropriate names in class pictures, yearbooks, etc.... all because of that first grade teacher (who was honestly a really nice person from what I remember and am told by my parents). Just an example of how a name or nickname can stick with you and effect your life for great lengths of time.

jeff