Irish names are adored all around the world, but that doesn’t mean people who don’t hail from the Emerald Isle know just how to pronounce them.
Irish names are popular in the United States, they even make up some of the most popular names in the country.
However, the popular names are usually the ones that you can’t really get wrong, like Liam, Finn, or Reagan, for example.
As such, there are many names that Americans always get wrong. Let’s take a look at the Irish names that always seem to go straight over the heads of the Americans.
10. Saoirse – freedom
Even though Irish-American actor Saoirse Ronan is one of the biggest stars in the world, this name still mystifies people all over the US.
Saoirse’s of the world are more likely to hear their names pronounced like Cersei Lannister from Game of Thrones rather than how it’s actually pronounced (seer-sha).
9. Niamh – biggest pet ‘piamh’
In Ireland, Niamh is an extremely popular name, so everyone knows how to say it. However, according to BabyCenter, the name Niamh usually ranks well outside the top three or four thousand top baby names in the United States.
As such, we can’t really blame Americans for not being able to pronounce this Irish name. (Neev).
8. Gráinne – granny
The poor Gráinnes of the world are always being called ‘granny’ by Americans, or ‘grainy’. Alas, this Irish name is pronounced grawn-ya.
7. Cillian – even Cillian Murphy can’t bring on the correct pronunciation
If the fame of Cillian Murphy can’t get Americans to pronounce this Irish name properly, then we don’t think anything will.
Americans very infamously pronounce the name Cillian as ‘Sill-ee-an’ rather than the intended ‘kill-ee-an’.
6. Sinéad – nothing compares 2 U
Another name that is very popular back home in Ireland, but not so much in the States, you would at least think that iconic Irish people, like Sinéad O’Connor for example, would mean more people knew just how to pronounce this name.
However, you’d be wrong, because a lot of Americans will pronounce this name as they see it, like ‘sin-aid’, rather than the correct ‘shin-aid’.
5. Aoife – a vowel heavy name
One consonant, four vowels, this name is one of the top Irish names that Americans always pronounce wrong.
Pronounced properly as ‘ee-fa’, something along the lines of the word ‘oaf’ tends to come out when Americans attempt this Irish name.
4. Caoimhe – god help the Americans with this one
In the southern dialects, it’s pronounced ‘kwee-va’, whereas in the Ulster dialect, it’s pronounced ‘kee-va’. However, Americans don’t even come close.
3. Eoghan/Eoin – the fame of Eoghan Quigg maybe didn’t reach as far as the States
If an American saw the name Owen, they maybe wouldn’t even bat an eye! However, when an American sees a variation of the Irish spelling of this Irish name, alarm bells start ringing.
The ‘g’ gets pronounced as a hard letter in the Eoghan variation, and when it comes to Eoin, well, a sound like leaning on the error key seems to come out of Americans. The proper pronounciation of this Irish name is ‘oh-in’.
2. Sadhbh – alarm bells for Americans
When an American sees that collection of d’s, b’s, and h’s that make up most of this Irish name, alarm bells start sounding in their heads.
While many Irish names are simple enough to pronounce, we can forgive the American population for struggling with this one.
They usually say the word ‘sad’ and then give up. However, this Irish name is actually pronounced ‘sive’.
1. Meabh – like the Queen of Connacht in Irish mythology
It turns out a lot of Americans haven’t heard of Queen Medh of Connacht, or at least they haven’t heard her name said out loud, because this is one they struggle with.
There are a lot of variations of the name, but the anglicised version – Maeve – is perhaps the easiest one to decipher. Whereas the spelling Meabh causes people with this name to hear ‘meeb’ from a lot of Americans.
