Video – how to pronounce Irish baby boy names – and what they mean

Wolfe Momma

Irish YouTube star Wolfe Momma has produced a video that explains the meaning and history of several Irish boys’ names.

She also helps viewers learn to pronounce the names as they are intended.

Many Irish names are notoriously difficult for people in other English-speaking countries to wrap their heads around.

Wolfe Momma

Wolfe Momma said: “If you don’t speak Irish, they can be kind of difficult to pronounce.”

This is probably somewhat of an understatement, as any Irish person who has spent a considerable portion of their lives explaining how to pronounce or spell their names will know.

Thankfully, Wolfe Momma is a great teacher and talks her viewers through many popular Irish boys’ names such as Tadgh, Dáithí, Féilim, Ruaidhrí and several others.

The first name Wolfe Momma mentioned was Oisín, which means ‘Little deer’.

She made sure to point out that despite being a ‘little deer’ Oisín was a manly name.

The Oisín from Irish legends was a warrior and a poet, who, as a child, was raised by his mother in the forest as she had been turned into a deer.

Like Oisín, many Irish boys’ names come from the kings and warriors of Irish history and legend, but there are also some that come from poets and philosophers.

Take a look at the video below.

Click here for Irish girls’ names

Pronunciations of Irish boys’ names

Cian – ‘Key-in’ or ‘Keen’
Ciarán – ‘Keer-awn’ or ‘Keer-en’
Dáithí – ‘Daw-hee’ or ‘Da-hee’
Darragh – ‘Da-ra’
Diarmuid ‘Deer-mid’
Eoghan – ‘O-in’
Féilim – ‘Fay-lim’
Fiachra – ‘Fee-Acra’
Lochlann ‘Lock-lin’
Naoise – ‘Nee-sha’
Oisín – ‘Ush-een’
Padraig – ‘Paw-drig’ or ‘Paw-rick’
Ruaidhrí – ‘Roo-ree’ or ‘Rur-ree’
Sean – ‘Shaw-n’
Séamus ‘Shay-mus’
Tadgh – ‘Tie-g’
Turlough – ‘Tur-lock’
Ultan – ‘Ul-tin’

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