This is the transcript to The Baby Names Podcast episode 48 Irish Names

Announcer: Welcome to season three of the Baby Names podcast! Naming the world one baby at a time, here are your hosts, the Moss sisters.

JENNIFER: I’m Jennifer Moss.

MALLORY: and I’m Mallory Moss.

JENNIFER: and we’re the founders of BabyNames.com.

MALLORY: and we’re sisters, too.

JENNIFER: We are. We want to preface this episode with an acknowledgement that we know it’s scary out there. We are in the middle? Probably the start of a tough couple of months as the Coronavirus pandemic spreads throughout the world. We want everyone out there to stay safe. Please follow all of your country and local health directives, set an example for our children, and don’t panic.

MALLORY: Yes. Jennifer and I have decided to continue producing the Baby Names podcast for your entertainment, enjoyment, and education while you socially distance!

JENNIFER: As long as we can. And if our season is interrupted, we’ll let you know. Make sure that you join our Facebook Group – The Baby Names Podcast – it’s not hard to find.

MALLORY: In the group, we talk with our fans about our latest episodes, ask for input on future episodes, and will keep you posted on the schedule. Now… onto the show!

JENNIFER: Yes, our first segment is always interesting names we found since the last episode. And guess what — people were searching our site for Corona and I would not recommend naming your baby this name at this time. But a little background on the word or name Corona it comes from the Spanish la corona, which means crown. And in nature, it means light or refraction from a luminous round object like a halo around the sun or the moon. Obviously, people were searching to see if it was a name because of the recent pandemic and I’m sure somewhere out there, there’s someone named Corona. As there were people named Katrina, they can’t help it. I would just not recommend using the name from here on out.

MALLORY: Well, yeah, please. I don’t think anyone’s gonna name their baby Corona, but I’m not sure they would have.

JENNIFER: Some people are jokesters. You never know.

MALLORY: And I don’t think anyone would have named their baby Corona before because of the beer.

JENNIFER: Maybe.
MALLORY: Yeah, so, but anyway, we’ll see what happens. I’m sure it will make the news.

JENNIFER: Definitely.

MALLORY: I heard of the name Eason, kind of like Jason with an E, made notable by Hong Kong music star Eason Chan. I also recently heard the name Cici and Coco. And I think these would be great names for twins.

JENNIFER: No. Cici and Coco. They’re too diminutive.

MALLORY: Well, Coco is the name of, what, Ice T’s wife, so she’s not diminutive. All right, now for the topic of our week. Faith ‘N’ Begorrah it’s IRISH NAMES!

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JENNIFER: Hooray! [Jenn plays Outlander theme on her Tin Whistle]

YOU KNOW I had to get my Irish tin whistle in this episode, since I’m taking lessons. If you don’t recognize this song, it’s the theme from Outlander, originally titled the Sky Boat Song. And yes, I know it is a Scottish Love Song – don’t email me – I know they’re different cultures but it’s the song I know the best.

MALLORY: Not bad for a tin whistle!

JENNIFER: Thank you!

MALLORY: Okay, so let’s start with the history of Irish Names.

It is widely believed by scholars that the first inhabitants of Ireland date back to between 8,000- 7,000 BCE. Around 1200 BCE, the Celts came to Ireland, having a huge impact on the Irish culture, and that still exists today. The Celts spoke what was called Q-Celtic or Goidellic. Throughout the centuries, this evolved into Irish Gaelic.

JENNIFER: Now the Celts were originally a collection of tribes originating from central Europe and then migrated throughout western Europe to Britain, Ireland, France and Spain.

During the 19th century Gaelic largely disappeared when Great Britain colonized Ireland, but the language is still spoken mostly in the western part of the country. They call it Irish now, and Miranda and I found when we visited a couple of years ago that those on the Western part of the country really spoke it interchangeably with English. And in that area – which is more rural – they tend to have more of a pronounced brogue like I could barely understand them and I’m sure they could barely understand me.

MALLORY: An Irish brogue, huh? It’s no secret that there has been tension between Ireland and England for many many years- and so keeping and propagating their traditional Irish names was – and still is – a way to preserve the Irish/Celtic culture.

Oh, and yes, despite the Boston team, the proper way to pronounce it is as we’re doing it with the hard C – Celtic.

JENNIFER: Now, I remember Irish names first becoming trendy in the 80s but I wasn’t sure why, so I wrote our resident Onomast name expert Dr. Cleveland Kent Evans, and this is what he said:

The Irish are one of the oldest ethnic populations that emigrated to the U.S. beginning in Colonial times. Then there was a huge surge after the potato famine in 1845.

But because of prejudice and a desire to assimilate – common of many ethnic groups that came to the US – they anglicized and Americanized their names.

But now being one of the oldest ethnic groups to settle here, they reached a point where being fully assimilated and having many generations in the US, the descendants wanted to revive names from their ethnic ancestry. The revival of Irish names for babies in the U.S. started in the earlier 20th century with names like Kathleen, Colleen, Noreen, Maureen, Eileen, Bridget then in mid-century: Erin, Kevin, Casey (like around when we were born), Nolan, Patrick, Ryan, and Shannon, and even to some extent Brian, Michael, Dennis, and Nora.

MALLORY: Don’t forget Sean.

JENNIFER: And then in the 80s there was Kelly, Caitlyn, and Riley. It was a way to show Irish-American pride. As an aside, he said that Colleen, Erin, and Shannon are not used as given names in Ireland itself – Shannon is the name of a river, Erin literally means Ireland, and Colleen means girl.

MALLORY: So let’s roll back the clock a bit, take a trip over to the Emerald Isle and talk about traditional naming patterns from Irish culture.

So, the First born son is named after his father’s father
The Second born son is named after his mother’s father
The Third born son is named after the father
The Fourth born son – remember these are big Catholic families – is named after his father’s oldest brother
And the Fifth born son named after his father’s 2nd oldest brother or his mother’s oldest brother

JENNIFER: Yes and similarly, First born daughter named after mother’s mother
Second born daughter named after her father’s mother
Third born daughter named after her mother
Fourth born daughter named after her mother’s oldest sister
Fifth born daughter named after her mother’s 2nd oldest sister or her father’s oldest sister

AND THIS is why I had so many problems tracing our family tree back further than four generations on our Irish side – everyone had the same names! BUT those naming patterns didn’t hold if: the parent and grandparents shared the same name, or if a child didn’t survive, or was born sick and terminal – in which case the naming pattern was given to the next born child.

MALLORY: A parish priest also had veto power – he could insist on a Saint’s name rather than a traditional family Gaelic name. Also, if a family was wealthy, they were more likely to toss the traditional naming patterns and just do what they wanted, like use a trendy name or a name of a friend or relative who they wanted to honor or someone who just died.

JENNIFER: The wealthy were also more likely to use the mother’s maiden name as a middle name – signifying their prominent line. That was also common practice here in the U.S. For the East Coast wealthy.

So when all babies were named after the adults in the family, they had to figure out a way to tell them apart so they usually added a suffix to the child’s name. The most common were
● Indicating Little or small: ey, ie, or -een (like Colleen)
● There was the Younger written as “~óg” or “~ogue” e.g. Breedogue / Seánóg. Uileóg, or Ulick, meaning young William.
● And Boys were sometimes called Sonny, and girls were either sissy or “Baby” which might have stuck as a nickname throughout their life.

MALLORY: And as for surnames – it’s a fallacy that O’ is Irish and Mac is Scottish. The Irish used both O’ and Mac. Now remember, before the 19th century there was usually no proper way to spell words or names – it was kind-of a phonetic thing. In Ireland, Mac might have been written as Mac, Mc, M’ and even Mag. That’s why you have Maguire or Magee.

JENNIFER: I know a Maynard Magee! And I love his name.

MALLORY: Oh you do, huh?

JENNIFER: Okay so the O like in O’Leary is written with an apostrophe in English but with a Fata (accent over the vowel) in Irish. Never both. The accent above some vowels is called a fada, which means it’s a long vowel.

Both Mac and O were patronymic indicators saying who you belonged to – your father’s name. BUT ONLY FOR THE BOYS! Mac means son of / Ó meant grandson of). Now for girls, they would use Mhic, Uí, or Ua (which meant wife of) if they took their partner’s name in marriage, or Nic or Ní (meaning daughter of).
Now this all changed after Brian Boru became High King. When he died in 1014, he was only known only as Brian, like Cher or Oprah. His family throughout the generatios wanted to be identified with him so they used O’Brien as a surname desptie what their own father or grandfather’s names were. And they started the trend of the hereditary surnames like we have today, keeping the original family name. And now O’Brien is one of the top 10 most numerous surnames in Ireland.

MALLORY: Okay, that’s interesting. I didn’t know that. Yeah, there’s a great site where you can map where the surnames come from and what name they might have been originally derived from. It is www.johngrenham.com – it’s a subscription site, but very helpful for genealogy – we’ll put the link in the show notes. Take our family tree for example – Reilly would have come from O’Reilly and Lardner was Ó Lorgnáin. (O-lornyane) As you might have guessed Reillys are all over the place in Ireland but LARDNERs are concentrated in Galway. This site lets you cross reference different surnames and figure out where you’d be from. Mary Lardner’s mother had the surname Walsh so if I enter Walsh and Lardner together, it’s most likely County Galway or Mayo. Yeah, that can help all you out there trying to search your Irish family trees.

MALLORY: Woosh! That’s a lot of information right there. So let’s go over the top baby names in Ireland RIGHT NOW and then we’ll each pick some cool names that we think would make unique baby names outside of Ireland!

JENNIFER: Okay, of course, as we discussed in our History of English Names episode – things got mish-moshed after the Norman invasion of 1169. With first names and surnames. And names got anglicized both in written form and pronunciation. They could have been anglicized colloquially or transcribed by clergy or English officials in a different way, like for examples, the Irish name Conchobhar (pr Croo-hur) becomes Connor/Conor. Medb becomes Maeve.

MALLORY: And to be clear, there are no traditional Irish names beginning with the letters J, K, Q, V, W, X, Y or Z. BECAUSE These letters don’t exist in the Irish alphabet. Names starting with K in English like Keira are spelled with a hard C in Irish (Ciara for example).

JENNIFER: Yeah, and here are some Irish name pronunciation tips:
Bh and mh are usually pronounced ‘v’
E is silent if it’s before A
Mh, like bh, is usually v, sometimes w.
Dh, fh and gh are usually silent
Sh and th are pronounced h or silent
Ch is gutteral, as in Bach.
C is always hard as in cat.
S is pronounced sh like before an e or i.

And as we said, the accent vowels – the fada – means it’s a long vowel.
MALLORY: And without further ado, here are the top 20 baby names in Ireland in the year 2019:

JENNIFER: WAIT – one more ado. You’ll notice that traditional Irish names are peppered into the popularity charts, which I think is fascinating. So although a lot of the names follow the trends of say the UK and American charts, there are still some very Gaelic names in there. Okay, now you can start. Take the top 20 girls, Mal.

MALLORY: Okay, well, number one is Emily. Number two is Grace. Number three is Fiadh. Sophie is four. Five is Hannah, six is Amelia. Seven is Ava and Ellie tied. I like Ellie. Nine is Ella. Ten is Mia. 11 is Lucy, 12 is Emma, 13 Lily, 14 Olivia, 15 Chloe, 16 Aoife, 17 is Caoimhe. Then there is Molly which is 18. Anna which is 19. Sophia also tying for 19. And Holly is 21.

JENNIFER: Okay, so for boys it’s Jack, James, Noah, Conor, Daniel, Adam, Liam. Tadhg, Luke, Charlie, Darragh, Oisin, Michael, Alex, Fionn, Cillian, Thomas, Jamie, Patrick, and Rian. And Rian spelled that way is also a Tolkien character.

MALLORY: Hmmm. Okay.

JENNIFER: Let’s do some cool Irish names spotted on these lists beyond the top 20.

MALLORY: Okay, well one of the first boy names I really like is Callum. Then there’s Donnach. Do I have to spell each one?

JENNIFER: You don’t have to spell each one but they’re all really cool and have unusual spellings to Americans, I should say.

MALLORY: Yes, there’s Cathal, Rauiri, Cormac, Eoghan. Then there’s Killian like the beer. Tiernan, Lorcan, Kian, Daire, Daithi. We have Diarmuid, that’s kind of interesting variation of Dermot, Ruadhan, Aodhan, Cuan, Seimi (I don’t think I’d ever name a baby Seimi), Fionan, and Seadna.

JENNIFER: Yeah, that’s cool. And what we’re doing is we’re listing these with the most popular on down. One of the more popular names is Eabha for girls. Then there’s Sadhbh/Saibh (SAVE), Róisín (roSHEEN), Clodagh (CLAWduh), Aoibhín (EE-veen), Bonnie at 72 which is super cute, Ailbhe (ALva), Aoibheann (EEVen), Méabh (My-ave), Laoise (LEEsha), Aoibhe (EVA), Síofra (SHEEfra), Síun (shoon), Caragh (cara), Éala (ayla), Róise (Rosha), Bláithín (blawheen) which I don’t think I’d use either, Cadhla (kyla), Gráinne (GRAWnya), Éadaoin (EHdeen), Bláthnaid (BLAHNid), Clíodhna (CLEEuhna), Sinéad (sheNAYD) which is easy because of Sinead O’Connor, Bronagh (BROnah), Síomha (SHEEovuh), Saorlaith (SAYR-lah), Meadhbh (Maeve), Ceoladh (keeolah), Eibhlín (which is kind of like Evelyn), Órlaith (orla), and Réiltín (rail-TEEN). So interesting. I love these names.

MALLORY: They’re just hard to spell for an American.

JENNIFER: Not for Irish.

MALLORY: No. But for an American.

JENNIFER: This is exactly why I had so many problems with the Irish GPS lady. I was driving around Ireland and she would be like okay now of course she had an Irish brogue, turn right at a street and I’m like, What was that? What? Where am I turning right? And of course, I’m going around the turn around about 21 times until I can figure it out.

MALLORY: Well, the crazy Americans again.

JENNIFER: Yeah the tourists over there!

MALLORY: Okay, and going back to the birth trends of the United States – you’ll see Irish names on both sides: The #1 boys’ name right, is Liam – we also see Aidan, Owen, Connor, Ian (which is dear to my heart), Evan, Sean, Nolan, Declan, and Rowan – which is from the surname Ó Ruadháin (o ROOan). Rowan appears on both the boys and girls charts.

JENNIFER: Right. And for girls, the Irish names are a little farther down on the charts – like I said they had a surge in the 80s and 90s and then now waning a bit. The most prevalent one and popular one is now Nora. Also, some surnames like Riley, Reagan, and Kaylee, Brianna, Tegan, and Kylie which became super trendy after pop star Kylie Minogue. However, it’s kind of a roundabout Irish name – it’s a feminization of the Irish boys name Kyle but actually originated in Australia where Kylie Minogue is from.

MALLORY: Those were from the 2018 list. The 2019 Social Security baby names list will be released in May – usually around Mother’s Day – and we’ll do a whole episode on it when the list is released.

JENNIFER: We will now name some Irish and Irish American celebs including American actors Saoirse Ronan who put the name Saoirse on the charts, and a shout out to Aidan Quinn – along with the character Aidan from Sex in the City – helped catapult that name to #1 on the boys charts for several years.

There’s also singer Enya whose name is really spelled the Irish way, Eithne – I actually know a woman with that name who pronounces it “ETH-nee.” She lives here. I guess she got sick of everyone mispronouncing her name. There’s musician Niall Horan from One Direction.

MALLORY: AND Paul David Hewson (aka Bono) from the Irish band U2, actors Colin Farrell, Daniel Day Lewis, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Gabriel Byrne, and Liam Neeson.

JENNIFER: and Graham Norton, a tv host – he was also in one of the most ridiculously funniest tv shows I’ve ever seen – an Irish sitcom show called Father Ted – it used to be on Netflix. I don’t know where it went. But if you have any way of watching it, you should watch it. Father Ted. Of course, the very handsome Pierce Brosnan is Irish – who I saw once at a Cirque Du Soleil show, he is VERY handsome in person. And another one of my favorite actors Chris O’Dowd from another hysterical show, the IT CROWD.

MALLORY: Can’t forget Kenneth Branagh! and another Aidan – Aidan Gill, who played littlefinger on Game of Thrones.

JENNIFER: And he also played the mayor on The Wire! And another Game of Thrones actor Jack Gleeson (who played King Joffrey),

MALLORY: Boooo! Actor Cillian Murphy with his blue eyes from Peaky Blinders, and Jamie Dornan from 50 Shades fame. Wasn’t he also on The Fall?

JENNIFER: I don’t know. I didn’t watch that. I know you keep telling me to.

MALLORY: Oh my god it was so good.

JENNIFER: Okay, and… [JENN’S TIN WHISTLE AGAIN] Caitriíona Balf from OUTLANDER! although Caitriona plays a Brit in the series, she is actually Irish. And I’m going to spell her name because it’s unusual to see. And we’ll end it right there because there are so many we can’t name them all.

MALLORY: And to finish the segment – Irish names we personally like:

For Girls, I like Aideen, sometimes named after the father whose name would be Aiden. I like Alanah, which means darling child. Betha, and that means life. And I’d like to mention the complexity of the name Caoilfhoinn…it’s pronounced Key-lin but spelled… Most people in America would even attempt to say that name, let alone get it right.

JENNIFER: Imagine them in Starbucks.

MALLORY: Then there’s Muireann, which means see white or long haired, ad it was the name of a mermaid. And lastly I like Roisin, or little rose. For boys, I like Eamon, also a Game of Thrones name, which is also Edward or keeper of riches. And Enda, which can be used for a boy or girl which means like a bird fin. I think it is a great alternative to the name Finn. And then I like Michan, which was some monk.

JENNIFER: Some monk out there is the name Michan.

MALLORY: Some monk out there! And then lastly I like Roisin (roe-sheen) meaning little rose and is one of the most popular names in Ireland.

JENNIFER: Well, I keep it traditional. I’ve always liked the name Siobhán – there’s a character in the HBO show SUCCESSION – great show – about a family business. Siobhan is the daughter and they call her SHIV – like the knife. Love that, because Everyone’s a backstabbin’ on that show! Now, I also like Niamh (neev) and as I said in the baby names podcast group – Finola, for one of my favorite soap actresses Finola Hughes. You could call her Finn or Nola / Nolie. And of course, Caitriona as in Caitriona BALFE (balf) FROM OUTLANDER! [TIN WHISTLE STARTS]

MALLORY: NO MORE TIN WHISTLE!

JENNIFER: hahah ok. Maybe at the end…I have to show off my lessons!

MALLORY: Okay, as long as it’s an IRISH SONG!

Announcer: And now it’s time for celebrity baby news!

JENNIFER: Real Housewives star Teddi Mellencamp has welcomed a baby girl into the world with her husband Edwin Arroyave! The health and wellness coach asked Instagram for help in choosing a name for the couple’s third child. She posted that they were considering Presley, Shay, Selena, and Dove. They eventually chose to name their new daughter Dove Mellencamp Arroyave.

MALLORY: Supergirl star Melissa Benoist has announced that she and her husband Chris Wood are expecting their first child together! Melissa and Chris met on the set of Supergirl in 2016 where Melissa plays the title role and Chris played her love interest. They got engaged in February of 2019 and tied the knot a few months later in September.

JENNIFER: Oh cute! Katy Perry’s new music video for her single “Never Worn White” premiered online where it showed her pregnant. She and fiancé actor Orlando Bloom are expecting their first child together! Wait, I didn’t even know she was dating Orlando Bloom! I guess I’m out of it because apparently they’ve been together since the Golden Globes in 2016 when they were spotted dancing together at an after-party. They got engaged on Valentine’s day of last year, 2019. This new baby with be Katy’s first child and Orlando’s second. Orlando shares a 9-year-old son named Flynn with his ex-wife Miranda Kerr. Katy hinted on Twitter that she was due this summer.

MALLORY: Country star Tyler Hubbard of the duo Florida Georgia Line has made a special announcement today! He and his wife, Hayley Stommel are expecting their third child together, just 6 months after welcoming baby number 2!

JENNIFER: That’s really quick. All these people are havig babies after babies after babies like immediatley.

MALLORY: It’s probably a racist term, but the old term used to be Irish twins.

JENNIFER: If they were born less than a year apart. Yeah, they’re Irish twins.

MALLORY: They currently have 2-year-old Olivia Rose and 6-month-old Luca Reed and this baby will make 3 under two years old. Oy!

JENNIFER: Okay, Grey’s Anatomy star Camilla Luddington has announced that she and her husband, fellow actor Matthew Alan, are expecting their second child together! She and Matt have been hiding the pregnancy for months and are thrilled to finally share the news! The couple welcomed their first daughter, Hayden, in March of 2017.

MALLORY: I don’t like Hayden for a girl. I just don’t.

JENNIFER: Sounds like hating. Like you’re hating on somebody.

MALLORY: Well, I knew Hayden males. There was one on Survivor or Big Brother….

JENNIFER: Oh yeah Hayden Moss, no relation.

MALLORY: Actress and dancer Jenna Dewan has announced that she has welcomed her second child, but the first with fiancé Steve Kazee. The couple have named their baby boy Callum Michael Rebel Kazee. Wait, that’s a mouthful.

JENNIFER: Why does the Rebel have to be in there??? And also Callum – there’s your Irish name.

MALLORY: You’re right. You know, I’m not a big fan of two middle names. Just not.

JENNIFER: Too much, yeah.

MALLORY: And it doesn’t fit.

JENNIFER: It’s usually to just placate family who want their name in there. You know, probably. That’s how I feel. We’ll talk about middle names very, very soon.

MALLORY: Okay, well Callum was born on March 6th, nearly seven years after her first child, 6-year-old daughter Everly with ex-husband, actor Channing Tatum, wah wah wah. While Jenna shares some images with her daughter online, Everly’s face is never shown. Yeah, don’t blame her.

JENNIFER: HGTV star Mina Starsisak Hawk has revealed she’s pregnant, after a long journey of trying to conceive. The Good Bones star announced her pregnancy on Instagram by posting a mock-Toy Story movie poster as the announcement. The new baby will join older brother Jack Richard Hawk born in 2018. That’s a tough name, huh?

And now for our final segment, where we take questions from you, our listeners. Here’s one:

Hi Jennifer & Mallory,

I just wanted to let you know that finally I have decided our baby girls name! She is Eleonora Mirabella Opal Riches. At last!!

I will still be an avid listener to your show of course!!
Much love.
Thank you
Heidi

JENNIFER: Now, Heidi originally wrote in a couple of weeks ago and said this was her rainbow baby after they lost twin girls in 2018. And they wanted Mirabella because it meant wonderful, wondrous beauty and that she was a miracle. I had answered her privately saying that the name and the sentiment was beautiful.

MALLORY: And like I said before, I’m typically not a fan of two middle names but what is not to like about Miss Eleanora Mirabella Opal? I love it and we are so happy for you.

JENNIFER: Congrats.

MALLORY: Yes.

JENNIFER: Okay. Now, you take the second.

MALLORY: Okay. Dear Jennifer and Mallory, I was listening to the podcast this or that. I was supposed to be Ayla 30 years ago. My mom liked the film Clan of the Cave Bear. The character Ayla was strong and she liked it. But I was named Machion ( Ma-shon). Was supposed to be spelled Michon. But mom guessed it and went with it. Haha. My daughter’s name is Murron (muh rhen) and it is from the film Braveheart. His wife’s name and in high school My bestie was Lauren. Years later hubby and I started to date. We were watching the movie, and he turned to me and asked about the name Murron. I said are you kidding? He was like i thought it was pretty. I was like me too! I told him the story. That was that. People don’t like the spelling. O well lol. Can you do an episode on the name Murron?

JENNIFER: Well, maybe not a whole episode, but it’s a very interesting name. And maybe we will do something like fantasy names from fantasy and a lot more. And we can get Braveheart in there. And Murron.

MALLORY: Yeah, and can I just say, people, when you send us letters, we love them. But don’t send us a letter that says I made up this name; what does it mean?

JENNIFER: Because you know, I get those. I have no clue what it means because you made it up.

MALLORY: I mean, we can guess, you know, but that’s not really you know, a dictionary meaning.

JENNIFER: Okay so here’s a letter that finally asks for our advice. Hi, Jennifer and Mallory:
I’m currently pregnant and just entered into my third trimester. Me and my husband are having a hard time agreeing on a baby girl name. We are having a surprise so we need to pick out both names. Our Last name is Dafniet (daff – nee- ETTE), which is French. My husband is French and his whole family still lives there so it has put an extra spin on picking names. For a boy we have agreed on Dario Daniel…

MALLORY: It’d be Dario Daniel Dafniet.

JENNIFER: I guess. Oh, DDD. But for a girl we just can’t agree, we both like Elia, but I really like Darcy and he thinks it won’t sound good in French….help! Becca Dafniet. Well, Darcy is a French name. It’s a place name so I don’t see why that wouldn’t work in French.

MALLORY: I don’t know. It’s a lot of D’s for me. You know I usually like alliterative names but Darcy Dafniet I actually don’t like. I like Ella, I think that’s beautiful. And you know me, I love French female names, you know?

JENNIFER: How about Amelie?

MALLORY: Amelie is a great idea. But you know what?

JENNIFER: Amelie Dafniet.

MALLORY: That’s such a big name it’s probably like naming your daughter Oprah, because of the movie.

JENNIFER: Oh, you mean like identifiable with the movie? Yes, okay, how about Dahlia? Dahlia Dafniet.

MALLORY: That’s pretty.

JENNIFER: You know, you don’t have to use a French name just because your husband’s family is French. Do what you want to do. Yeah, you and your husband decide and don’t get the whole family involved. Listen to our last episode on challenges of choosing a baby name. We specifically say don’t worry about what everybody else thinks and don’t get too much input.

MALLORY: Exactly.

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MALLORY: Well that’s the show guys. Tune in next time when we talk about… TA DAH !!!! MIDDLE NAMES!

JENNIFER: Oh yay we’ll finally talk about middle names – suggested by one of our listeners. Bye everyone! And now… an IRISH song ..[Jenn plays out O DANNY BOY on Tin Whistle]