Colm and other Irish names...

PSlove · October 2010

We are team green and trying to pick names that will work in both countries. DH is from N. Ireland and I am from America. We want the baby to have an Irish name, that is not too hard for his/her American family to pronounce. I also want to stay away from Irish names that are being used by everyone and their mom (Liam, Aidan, etc) even though I love some of those names.

My DH mentioned Colm the other day. I shot it down at first, but then saw an interview with someone named Colm last night. After hearing him talk in his lovely Irish accent, I kind of like it. It means dove and can be pronounced either Cull-um or Col-um. What do you guys think?

monlyn9 · October 2010

I like it but it would get mispronounced from the spelling. I would think most people unfamiliar with the came would pronounce it like calm but a long o sound.

magsugar13 · October 2010

jenna0627 · October 2010

I don't think it is awful but I do think that it would be mispronounced since the majority of people would pronounced it how it is spelled.

MnM7608 · October 2010

I love it! It's my father in law's name.

ara_cale · October 2010

I think if you spelled it Collum it would be easier for American eyes to pronounce. I remember that there was a character in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon with this name, but he was Scottish. I don't think if that fits your criteria.

alliejo725 · October 2010

Yes

Though I have to confess, my intuitive pronunciation of it was "COHLM"--one syllable. The two-syllable pronunciation is more attractive, IMO, but to me it would almost be worth doing Callum, which has a more intuitive pronunciation.

MSUMamaof2 · October 2010

I wouldn't have pronounced it "Collum." I agree with PP, I would have pronounced it "Cohlm" (one syllable). I love the name, though. Awesome choice.

What's your girl name? Just throwing it out there, not even saying I like it--my niece's first name is Keirnan, also Irish.

andrea922 · October 2010

MSUMamaof2:
What's your girl name? Just throwing it out there, not even saying I like it--my niece's first name is Keirnan, also Irish.

Keirnan means son of a Lord and is a boys name, so I wouldn't ever think 'girl' when I heard it. And is usually only a surname regardless.

PSlove · October 2010

Thanks for the opinions!

I kind of pronounce it as one syllable as well. The pronunciations listed are the two i found on the internet. I think in the end, it will be too tricky of a name for us Americans. Sometimes you just need the accent to make a name sound "right".

I love Callum, but DH thinks it's pretentious. Maybe I can work on him...

We don't have ANY girl ideas. I can already see us picking a name as we're walking out the hospital doors! lol

OscarQ · October 2010

I love the name Colm but DH won't consider it. I found this website which has a recording of the pronunciations for Irish names.

https://www.babynamesofireland.com/pages/boy-names-c-d.html

ncbelle · October 2010

PSlove:
Thanks for the opinions!
I kind of pronounce it as one syllable as well. The pronunciations listed are the two i found on the internet. I think in the end, it will be too tricky of a name for us Americans. Sometimes you just need the accent to make a name sound "right".
I love Callum, but DH thinks it's pretentious. Maybe I can work on him...
We don't have ANY girl ideas. I can already see us picking a name as we're walking out the hospital doors! lol

LOL at Callum being pretentious - how on earth so? That's kiddo's name ;-)

I like Colm. You may have to correct the way people say it but I think that's true of many unfamiliar names. And definitely spell it correctly! FWIW, people manage to mis-pronounce Callum sometimes - beats me how though??

PSlove · October 2010

ncbelle:
PSlove:
Thanks for the opinions!
I kind of pronounce it as one syllable as well. The pronunciations listed are the two i found on the internet. I think in the end, it will be too tricky of a name for us Americans. Sometimes you just need the accent to make a name sound "right".
I love Callum, but DH thinks it's pretentious. Maybe I can work on him...
We don't have ANY girl ideas. I can already see us picking a name as we're walking out the hospital doors! lol
LOL at Callum being pretentious - how on earth so? That's kiddo's name ;-)
I like Colm. You may have to correct the way people say it but I think that's true of many unfamiliar names. And definitely spell it correctly! FWIW, people manage to mis-pronounce Callum sometimes - beats me how though??

I love Callum. Pay no mind to my DH, he is the pickiest person when it comes to everything!! I don't know how he ended up with me! lol Stick out tongue

cvl105 · October 2010

I think it will get mispronounced often. I said it as "Colm" not Cull-em or Col-um when I first saw it.

Want a personalized experience?

Colm and other Irish names...

Re: Colm and other Irish names...

Choose Another Board

Search Boards