irish names, said right

The most common worry about a Gaelic name isn't whether it's beautiful - it's whether your child will spend a lifetime spelling it out over the phone. It's a fair worry, and there are three honest answers.

First: it's easier than it used to be. Saoirse Ronan, Cillian Murphy and Barry Keoghan have done the hard work; teachers have met a Niamh before. Second: most Gaelic names have an anglicised spelling - Keeva, Neve, Kieran - that keeps the sound and drops the burden, and there's no wrong choice between them. Third: the middle name is the pressure valve. A clear, single-syllable middle (Caoimhe Rose, Tadhg James) gives the whole name balance and gives your child a fallback they'll probably never need.

Every name above links to its middle-name page - pairings chosen for how they sound after an Irish first, not just how they look beside one.