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[Smee]

Yep, in Australia Teagan and Megan rhyme.
I cannot for the life of me figure out what accent you must have for “MAY-gen” and “Meg-n” to sound the same unless I’m reading them wrong? Meg to rhyme with peg (like a clothes peg, short e), May as in the first part of maybe, and Mee as in me myself and I? I’ve never heard anyone pronounce Megan as MAY-gen, but again, Australian. Is that like… to rhyme with the way Billy Joel says Reagan in the line “Begin, Reagan, Palestine” in We Didn’t Start the Fire?

[OHFL2009]

6 hours ago, MaryOrMartha said:

We also have the name Teghan -- the same as Meghan but with a T. So pronounced as "Tee-gen"

Is that a first name in the US? Do you all pronounce it as Tee-gen, or Teg-en (ala Meg-en)

I've seen Teagan, pronounced Tee-gan. But never Teghan, and never pronounced Teg-en/Tay-gin. And Meagan and Reagan I've only heard pronounced Meg-in/May-gin and Ray-gin, never Mee-gan or Ree-gan. 

[Zebedee]

6 hours ago, MaryOrMartha said:

We also have the name Teghan -- the same as Meghan but with a T. So pronounced as "Tee-gen"

Though the Aussie women's cricket captain is a "Meg-ann" (Meghan Lanning), so I guess it can get confusing, lol. 

[Jesquire]

17 minutes ago, Zebedee said:

Though the Aussie women's cricket captain is a "Meg-ann" (Meghan Lanning), so I guess it can get confusing, lol. 

OT: Outside of my husband, no one I know follows cricket.  It is so cool to see it mentioned here.  I can only name players if they look good in the tiny shorts. 

I think English accents also change how we pronounce all the Megan varieties. I love the British pronunciation of Imogen, but the American way I do not like.  And the name Rowan, but I know it would get butchered by my family here in Ohio.

[Cam]

One name that I can never understand how the spelling and pronunciation match up is Saoirse. Spoken as “Sur-shuh”.
A beautiful Irish name that means freedom, from what I gather.

Edited January 20, 2023 by Cam

[SassyPants]

2 hours ago, Cam said:

One name that I can never understand how the spelling and pronunciation match up is Saoirse. Spoken as “Sur-shuh”.
A beautiful Irish name that means freedom, from what I gather.

I love that name. My husband’s parents were Irish’s immigrants. They came to the states in the early 50’s, right before their kids were born. One relative (in US) has a daughter name Eibhlin. (pronounced Eva-Lin). I like Saoirse.

 

ETA: Siobhan is another one with a hard spelling/pronunciation quirk, at least for Americans. We gave our daughter a more common Irish name, and if our second had been another girl, she would have been named Megan (Meg, like in the word Nutmeg, with an AN on the end.) We would have named our son Ryan, but my husband’s brother and his wife named their son Ryan. We went with one of the common ending in EL (Samuel, Michael, Daniel, Nathaniel) male names. This name was also a family name.

Edited January 20, 2023 by SassyPants

[Bobology]

It IS a beautiful name. 

Here is an Irish Saoirse singing the pronunciation
 

 

[OHFL2009]

6 hours ago, Smee said:

I cannot for the life of me figure out what accent you must have for “MAY-gen” and “Meg-n” to sound the same unless I’m reading them wrong? 

If I say them slowly, I can hear the difference, but I don't think I've ever heard people saying it differently enough to notice or think "they're saying it wrong." But it's also not my name, so probably haven't paid that much attention. I think I say it closer to Meg-in than May-gen, but I've never given any thought to there being multiple ways to pronounce it.

[SassyPants]

7 minutes ago, OHFL2009 said:

If I say them slowly, I can hear the difference, but I don't think I've ever heard people saying it differently enough to notice or think "they're saying it wrong." But it's also not my name, so probably haven't paid that much attention. I think I say it closer to Meg-in than May-gen, but I've never given any thought to there being multiple ways to pronounce it.

A lady at my church is named Meagan. She pronounces it MEgan. And she will correct anyone who calls her May gan.

[Smee]

15 hours ago, Cam said:

One name that I can never understand how the spelling and pronunciation match up is Saoirse. Spoken as “Sur-shuh”.
A beautiful Irish name that means freedom, from what I gather.

Irish names in general are like that. Aoife (Ee-fah), Eibhlin (Eye-leen), even Caitlin is supposed to be pronounced like Kathleen.

[medimus]

On 1/21/2023 at 9:55 AM, Smee said:

Irish names in general are like that. Aoife (Ee-fah), Eibhlin (Eye-leen), even Caitlin is supposed to be pronounced like Kathleen.

That's because they aren't in English. They use Irish phonetics: aoi makes the long ee sound hence Aoife and Caoimhe, add an h to an m or b softens it to a v sound so Niamh and Siobhán. An s next to an e or i makes a sh sound as in Siobhán or Seán etc

[Cam]

1 hour ago, medimus said:

That's because they aren't in English. They use Irish phonetics: aoi makes the long ee sound hence Aoife and Caoimhe, add an h to an m or b softens it to a v sound so Niamh and Siobhán. An s next to an e or i makes a sh sound as in Siobhán or Seán etc

Well, that’s hysterically confusing to me! Lol. Kinda like the song “Liza with a Z”,  (not Lisa with an "S" cause Lisa with an "S" goes snoz Its Z instead of S, Li instead of Lee it's simple as could be see Liza….)

I think I only recently heard the name Siobhan when I started watching “Succession”. Played by actress Sarah Snook, I wasn’t sure what exactly her name was because sometimes they said “Shiv”, so I had to google it. I love the name, btw, very soft and feminine.

[Bobology]

3 hours ago, Cam said:

Kinda like the song “Liza with a Z”,  (not Lisa with an "S" cause Lisa with an "S" goes snoz Its Z instead of S, Li instead of Lee it's simple as could be see Liza….)

This is the same song Saoirse Ronan sang on SNL up there, but with her name instead of Liza. I had not heard the Liza version which I assume came first.

[Cam]

2 hours ago, Bobology said:

This is the same song Saoirse Ronan sang on SNL up there, but with her name instead of Liza. I had not heard the Liza version which I assume came first.

Oh my gosh, I forgot I wanted to watch your clip when I had a minute, so I just did and totally loved it! Wow, does Saoirse have a strong Irish brogue, I love listening to her talk. (I had no idea; I saw her in Lady Bird). She’s gorgeous too, and the skit was fabulous! 

How funny that I referenced Liza with a z before I saw Saoise’s take!

And yes, it was the title song of  (from Wiki:) “the first concert film made for television, “Liza with a Z” (1972) starring Liza Minnelli and produced by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse. Fosse directed and choreographed the concert; Ebb wrote and arranged the music with John Kander. Minnelli performed popular songs and material written for her by Kander and Ebb, including the title song.  (I think I read that Liza requested a song about her name because of the constant mispronunciation). Liza rehearsed at a Broadway theatre for eight weeks, and the special was shot on film instead of video, a rarity for TV at that time. Marvin Hamlisch was the music conductor and Halston designed the costumes. The concert film won four Emmy Awards and a Peabody.”

 

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by Cam

[AprilQuilt]

7 hours ago, medimus said:

That's because they aren't in English. They use Irish phonetics: aoi makes the long ee sound hence Aoife and Caoimhe, add an h to an m or b softens it to a v sound so Niamh and Siobhán. An s next to an e or i makes a sh sound as in Siobhán or Seán etc

Exactlyyyy! It really annoys me when people say Irish names "aren't pronounced the way they're spelt" - yes, they actually are. In Irish. I understand it takes an extra effort to get your head around if you haven't encountered if before but the letters aren't just there for decoration, they do actually have a function.

[Smee]

1 hour ago, AprilQuilt said:

Exactlyyyy! It really annoys me when people say Irish names "aren't pronounced the way they're spelt" - yes, they actually are. In Irish. I understand it takes an extra effort to get your head around if you haven't encountered if before but the letters aren't just there for decoration, they do actually have a function.

Yes, sorry I didn’t mean to imply that Irish names aren’t “correct” or whatever - as I understand it, the pronunciation rules for Irish are far more consistent/stable than English with its zillion exceptions. I just meant that Saoirse is much like other Irish names in terms of how unintuitive it is to native English speakers. I think some of the confusion comes from the alphabet - when you look at a Japanese name written in kanji you know at first glance that you don’t speak that language or know what it says. When it’s Irish though, you’re like “oh I know what sound a b makes”. But no. It’s still another language you don’t speak.

[AprilQuilt]

20 minutes ago, Smee said:

Yes, sorry I didn’t mean to imply that Irish names aren’t “correct” or whatever - as I understand it, the pronunciation rules for Irish are far more consistent/stable than English with its zillion exceptions. I just meant that Saoirse is much like other Irish names in terms of how unintuitive it is to native English speakers. I think some of the confusion comes from the alphabet - when you look at a Japanese name written in kanji you know at first glance that you don’t speak that language or know what it says. When it’s Irish though, you’re like “oh I know what sound a b makes”. But no. It’s still another language you don’t speak.

ah no, not you at all! Just in general really.

[patsymae]

10 hours ago, medimus said:

That's because they aren't in English. They use Irish phonetics: aoi makes the long ee sound hence Aoife and Caoimhe, add an h to an m or b softens it to a v sound so Niamh and Siobhán. An s next to an e or i makes a sh sound as in Siobhán or Seán etc

And I guess also regional accents. I know Caitlin as CAUGHT-leen, Saoirse as SEER-sha.. Aine as AWN-ya, Grainne as GRAWN-ya, Fiona as FEE-na. And before Irish names became trendy in America, my poor aunt Sorca (Sorcha) had to go through life explaining it's SIR-ka.

Edited January 23, 2023 by patsymae

[CarrotCake]

I love Siobhan, if I lived in an English-speaking country I would be very likely to use it for a future daughter.

But in Dutch it would be even more difficult, also because nobody will know the name.

[Meggo]

On 1/20/2023 at 1:19 AM, MaryOrMartha said:

I'm Australian and a have known many a "Mee-gan" - Megan, Megen, Meghan, Meagan, Meegan and even a Maegen (pronounced May-gen), and it's so weird to me that the name is pronounced so different in the US. Meg as a nickname in the US makes more sense. Mostly Megan's will just get called "Meegs" if they have a nickname.

We also have the name Teghan -- the same as Meghan but with a T. So pronounced as "Tee-gen"

Is that a first name in the US? Do you all pronounce it as Tee-gen, or Teg-en (ala Meg-en)

I know a TEE-gen and a TAYgen. I'm sure that's even more confusing then my Meg-in and MAYgen. 
 

On 1/20/2023 at 2:51 PM, SassyPants said:

A lady at my church is named Meagan. She pronounces it MEgan. And she will correct anyone who calls her May gan.

I don't generally correct anyone - I just cringe inwardly. 

On 1/22/2023 at 10:44 PM, patsymae said:

And I guess also regional accents. I know Caitlin as CAUGHT-leen, Saoirse as SEER-sha.. Aine as AWN-ya, Grainne as GRAWN-ya, Fiona as FEE-na. And before Irish names became trendy in America, my poor aunt Sorca (Sorcha) had to go through life explaining it's SIR-ka.

I went to college in Ireland for a year and knew a Grainne, and a Dulra. Both lovely LOVELY names - that don't really fly back on this side of the pond. 

[medimus]

5 hours ago, CarrotCake said:

I love Siobhan, if I lived in an English-speaking country I would be very likely to use it for a future daughter.

But in Dutch it would be even more difficult, also because nobody will know the name.

This is something that plays in my head, as I hope to have children in the next few years and the names are going to have to work in Dutch, English and Irish, we would be hoping to raise any children in the three languages, Irish being particularly important to my Irish speaking partner. Though I do find the Flemish are pretty chill about names, so obviously they might not know how to pronounce the name initially, once you tell them, generally they seem pretty onboard.

[4boysmum]

My daughter (clearly born after I joined with this username!) is a Saoirse.  We pronounce it SEER-sha.  I think Saoirse Ronan pronounces it more like SER-sha.  My husband is the Irish one, not me, but I think it's just an Irish dialect thing.  "aoi" has a "long e" sound in Irish, but nobody is going to know that if they aren't familiar with the Irish language.  She's only 2 and has a long road ahead of her because nobody ever spells or pronounces it right on the first try!  Husband had wanted to use that name for a daughter since before he even met me (it means "freedom"), but of course now everyone just thinks we named her after an actress.  Oh well.

My name is unusual even in my father's native country (enough so that I won't share here; I have never met anyone else with it).  But it is pronounced exactly like it is spelled in English.  And yet no one ever gets it right.  It's like some kind of " ethnic name I've never seen before" alarm bell goes off and they just can't process it.  When I was a kid, if a substitute teacher was taking attendance and just froze near the middle of the alphabet I would say "here!" to put them out of their misery.

[Meggo]

20 hours ago, 4boysmum said:

My daughter (clearly born after I joined with this username!) is a Saoirse.  We pronounce it SEER-sha.  I think Saoirse Ronan pronounces it more like SER-sha.  My husband is the Irish one, not me, but I think it's just an Irish dialect thing.  "aoi" has a "long e" sound in Irish, but nobody is going to know that if they aren't familiar with the Irish language.  She's only 2 and has a long road ahead of her because nobody ever spells or pronounces it right on the first try!  Husband had wanted to use that name for a daughter since before he even met me (it means "freedom"), but of course now everyone just thinks we named her after an actress.  Oh well.

My name is unusual even in my father's native country (enough so that I won't share here; I have never met anyone else with it).  But it is pronounced exactly like it is spelled in English.  And yet no one ever gets it right.  It's like some kind of " ethnic name I've never seen before" alarm bell goes off and they just can't process it.  When I was a kid, if a substitute teacher was taking attendance and just froze near the middle of the alphabet I would say "here!" to put them out of their misery.

I love love love the name Aoife. But also was worried that living in the US - no one would ever get it right (and I had a boy so that would have been REALLY awkward! :))

[Sullie06]

On 1/24/2023 at 8:23 AM, Meggo said:

I know a TEE-gen and a TAYgen. I'm sure that's even more confusing then my Meg-in and MAYgen. 
 

I don't generally correct anyone - I just cringe inwardly. 

I went to college in Ireland for a year and knew a Grainne, and a Dulra. Both lovely LOVELY names - that don't really fly back on this side of the pond. 

I live in upstate NY and grew up with a Grainne. I always thought her name was beautiful and so much cooler than all of our classic 80s names (Jennifer, Jessica, Lindsey, Nicole, Sarah, Ashley, etc).

[SassyPants]

On 1/22/2023 at 4:53 PM, AprilQuilt said:

Exactlyyyy! It really annoys me when people say Irish names "aren't pronounced the way they're spelt" - yes, they actually are. In Irish. I understand it takes an extra effort to get your head around if you haven't encountered if before but the letters aren't just there for decoration, they do actually have a function.

This is why I do not advocate for people in say America to name their kids such because where the kids live, are educated and socialize will constantly be correcting pronunciations or spellings. You can’t expect people around the globe to recognize and differentiate all other languages, pronunciations and spellings. Just the reality… I would not burden my kids like that. And yes, continually having to correct , repeat your name would get old reallllllly quick.

Edited January 25, 2023 by SassyPants