@clmacneil my husband is kind of the same way about the traditional spellings. I was initially, too, but then realized that so many of the Irish names we're familiar with are the anglicized version, eg, Maeve, Owen, Rory, Orla.
The issue with Niamh is it's hard to pronounce and it doesn't have a widely accepted anglicization - maybe because no version is as pretty as the original
Luckily we have a fairly straightforward last name (likely English descent). It's 2 syllables, starts with B and ends with D, so the only first names that really don't work for me are ones that start with B.
Mairead has been a favorite of mine for a long time, and I like that it honors my grandmother, Margaret (actually she was Italian and was christened Marguerite). So that seems like a good middle ground right now.
We have a very Irish last name that gets spelled wrong constantly so it's giving me extra pause on the Gaelic.
I do like how Niamh is spelled. I feel like it should be pronounced "Nim" which I actually quite like but the spelling is so much prettier than the anglicanized versions (but aren't all the Gaelics?)
We struck out on family names--- either they are things we really don't like or they are already massively repeated. I like Mairead, plus it would probably sound good with a "B" last name (M and B go well together, different sounds on the palette)
Re: To Use or Not To Use Traditional Gaelic Names
We have a very Irish last name that gets spelled wrong constantly so it's giving me extra pause on the Gaelic.
I do like how Niamh is spelled. I feel like it should be pronounced "Nim" which I actually quite like but the spelling is so much prettier than the anglicanized versions (but aren't all the Gaelics?)
We struck out on family names--- either they are things we really don't like or they are already massively repeated. I like Mairead, plus it would probably sound good with a "B" last name (M and B go well together, different sounds on the palette)