"Mairead" question

BrittKav · April 2012

We're considering Mairead as a mn for a hypothetical future DD. DH's family is (very proudly) Irish and we have an Irish last name so it wouldn't be weird. My question is about pronunciation. Isn't it pronounced MAW-raid? I really like the sound of muh-RAID, but not the sound of MAW-raid. Would it be really bad to pronounce it the way I like? I'm guessing yes, I just wanted to make sure. Wink

evaazalea · April 2012

Joy2611:
Well... I want to pronounce it May-Reed so I'm no help.

Ah, yea same here.

Mamaofthesea · April 2012

I'm no help either. I read it as MY-red. Haha

PenelopePond · April 2012

I read it like you would say "married"

BrittKav · April 2012

LOL. Well then, I guess since most people don't know how to pronounce it, I can pronounce it however I want. Wink

JulesDiane · April 2012

Married with an emphasis on the send syllable. that is how i am pronouncing it...

BackseatDriver · April 2012

I once met a little girl with this name and I was (not so nicely) corrected by her mother on the pronunciation. I originally pronounced it May-reed. According to her it rhymes with parade.

HAFranklin · April 2012

I would pronounce it like the pp said...rhymes with parade.

Aligator28 · April 2012

This.

Mrkyrain · April 2012

I know a child with this name and it's pronounced muh raid rhymes with parade.

KittyMarie219 · April 2012

Check out this site. It has an audio setting that says the name the way it's supposed to be pronounced --

https://www.babynamesofireland.com/

Eilis123 · April 2012

Rhymes with "Parade"

I have a cousin with this name. If she didn't live two blocks down the street I totally would use it for my own child.

EmsyK · April 2012

I'm Irish and it is pronounced MAW-raid. I don't think Muh-RAID sounds too different especially if you say it quickly. I think that baby name site has the audio so you could check it out. It's up to you but i think the first pronunciation is correct.

JBM1204 · April 2012

BrittKav:

LOL. Well then, I guess since most people don't know how to pronounce it, I can pronounce it however I want.

It's my niece's mn. It's a family name and they pronounce it Muh-Raid.

BrittKav · April 2012

Oh, awesome! I really wanted to pronounce it to rhyme with 'parade' but when I went on that Irish baby names site (the one where Frank McCourt reads the names) he says it like MAW-raid. I'm so glad it's typically pronounced like I wanted. This made my day!

BethPSU · April 2012

I know someone with this name and she pronounces it like parade. Very cool name.

mysticriver · April 2012

I've always heard it pronounced muh-RAID. Or more like mah-RAID but usually with the emphasis on the 2nd syllable. Love the name, but my non-Irish DH keeps vetoing my Irish name choices.