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Irish ladies pls how do you pronouce this girl's name?

37 replies

choolie · 24/01/2008 20:17

My cousin has just named her baby girl Labhaolse. Can anybody re-write this as you would say it, so I know how to pronounce this?

I apologise on behalf of my mum who does not like it just because she can't say it - I did swiftly tell her it's probably a very pretty name if only we could pronounce it and would love to ring her back and tell her how it sounds.

TIA!

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tiredemma · 24/01/2008 20:21

I think its Lee-sha

A form of louise
I think

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Whizzz · 24/01/2008 20:23

Googled & got

Labhaoise - (LAU-ee-shuh) "holiness"; Louisa, Louise

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choolie · 24/01/2008 20:24

ahh, I did wonder about a form of Louise, that seemed like the nearest similarity. very pretty if so.

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tiredemma · 24/01/2008 20:24

and its an i not a L

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choolie · 24/01/2008 20:25

GOOGLE!!! OMG I live my life by google why didn't I think of that?!! thanks ladies.

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Beauregard · 24/01/2008 20:26

ooh do you mind if i hijack this thread and ask how to pronounce the name Aoife?

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skidoodle · 24/01/2008 20:26

Whizzz is right.

I've never come across that particular variation of that name before but that's how it would be pronounced all right.

BTW it's LAU to rhyme with COW rather than LAU to rhyme with THAW.

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Whizzz · 24/01/2008 20:27

just thinking of the majority of the population that are going to call her Lab-Hose

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MrsEi25 · 24/01/2008 20:27

i find this with alot of irish origin names they are so difficult to spell/pronounce but when you know how they do sound so pretty
that sounds so unusual but i have no idea how to pronounce it looks as if it could be as tiredmama says a form of louise. lovely name if it is lee-sha though
xx ei xx

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Whizzz · 24/01/2008 20:28

My Google tells me

AOIFE (pr. Ee-fah): This old Irish name is a variant on 'Eva'. There have been many Aoifes in Irish mythology and folklore, one of the most notable of which was the Aoife who married the legendary Irish warrior Strongbow at Waterford many centuries ago.

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skidoodle · 24/01/2008 20:28

Aoife is pronounced EEF- uh (stress on first syllable)

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weeonion · 24/01/2008 20:28

aoife = ee-fa

dd is a caoimhe - that raises some eyebrows

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mollythetortoise · 24/01/2008 20:29

pelvic, think Aoife is pronounced Eee-fa

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MrsEi25 · 24/01/2008 20:30

PFNM its pronounced ee-fah as far as i know. i worked with a girl with this name (same spelling) and thats how she pronounced her name
xx ei xx

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lucy5 · 24/01/2008 20:30

I was just going to ask the same question pelvicfloor... as I saw the name somewhere yesterday.

I remember when Bananarama first came out, thinking that the girl was called Sio-bahn. I thought it was a lovely name and felt like a right twit when someone told me the correct pronunciation. I was only 11 though.

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Whizzz · 24/01/2008 20:31

caoimhe - qwee-vuh or key-vuh Keva From the Irish word 'caomh' which can variously mean 'gentle, beautiful or graceful'

They are lovely names but I wouldn't have a clue how to say any of them !

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MrsFogi · 24/01/2008 20:31

thread hijack alert - what about Aleanbh, how would that be pronounced?

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Beauregard · 24/01/2008 20:31

Thankyou

Still don't get how they get to be pronounced in that way?

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skidoodle · 24/01/2008 20:31

Aoife is probably a much older name than Eva, I wouldn't trust Google on that one. People are always making up unfounded links between Irish names and English names that sound a bit similar.

Aoife was also the name of the evil stepmother in the Children of Lir iirc, although it's a beautiful name so that shouldn't put you off.

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Whizzz · 24/01/2008 20:32

there's a list here

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Beauregard · 24/01/2008 20:32

An aquaintance of mine has just given her newborn dd Aoife as a middle name so i thought i best check

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Whizzz · 24/01/2008 20:35

Mrs F : Aleanbh is apparently a Gaelic form of Alannah - 'a leanbh' means 'O child

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weeonion · 24/01/2008 20:35

the doctors reception calls out "coal-ham-he" for caoimhe. it still makes me giggle!

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MrsEi25 · 24/01/2008 20:35

i read an autobiography a while back where the lady called one of her DCs saoirse which i had terrible trouble tryin to work out how it is pronounced and then i watched a programme with said lady i it and she said the name as seer-sha beautiful name but i would never be able to use it as my family have trouble spelling DDs name (sian) she gets all kinds like sharn and sain etc
xx ei xx

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skidoodle · 24/01/2008 20:37

Aleanbh - that's a weird one. It's normally spelt (and pronounced) Alanna, which you may be familiar with.

Aleanbh is like a re-Irishing of an anglicised version of a Irish phrase (a leanbh - child [vocative]).

a leanbh would be pronounced any of A LYANIV, A LANOO, A LANA.

as a phrase (pronounced Alanna) of endearment for children (or even grown ups by their elders) it passed into general English usage, even in non-Irish speaking communities. It then began to be used as a name.

So my guess is that a baby with the name Aleanbh would pronounce it Alanna but I would pronounce that combination of letters as ALYANIV just from how its written iyswim.

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