A friend of mine is looking for a name with both [name_m]Irish[/name_m] and Spanish origins to honour her and her fiancees’ heritage, and being the name nerd that I am, I have to help lol.
Criteria for name:
preferably has ties to both [name_f]Ireland[/name_f] and Spain
preferably commonly used in both countries, but not too common haha
easy to pronounce for both sides of the family
could also be an [name_m]Irish[/name_m] name that is easily pronounced in Spanish, or a Spanish name that would work in Ireland… however, really trying to find a name with roots in both cultures
So far, they are really liking…
[name_f]Nadia[/name_f]
[name_f]Maura[/name_f]
[name_f]Diana[/name_f]
[name_f]Alma[/name_f]
[name_f]Eva[/name_f]
(baby will be a girl )
… but it has been hard to think of many others. At this point, just trying to make a list. Any suggestions to help out would be greatly appreciated! Thank you
Of these, I believe [name_f]Julia[/name_f] and [name_f]Teresa[/name_f] would be pronounced most differently in Spanish and [name_f]English[/name_f], but I’ve included them because they have a well known PN in each country. Sorry if different PN’s are exactly what your friend wants to avoid
I went with Saints names when I was finding these, with the hope that there would be some associated cultural cross over via Catholicism.
Nora would work - it has a strong Irish history and is used in Spain. Isabel comes to mind too. Many classical names of Greek, Latin and Biblical origin would work.
I agree with the suggestion of Catholic saints’ names. Martina, Marina, Imelda, Cecilia, Veronica, Jacinta, Lucia etc are all known/used names in Ireland (though the pronunciations will likely be a bit different in Spain).
A few more that haven’t been suggested yet…
[name_f]Maya[/name_f]
[name_f]Lara[/name_f]
[name_f]Clara[/name_f]
[name_f]Christina[/name_f] / [name_f]Cristina[/name_f]
[name_f]Emma[/name_f]
[name_f]Sofia[/name_f]
[name_f]Lea[/name_f] / [name_f]Lia[/name_f]
[name_f]Nina[/name_f]
[name_f]Kira[/name_f] (Ciara or [name_f]Keira[/name_f] would probably have pronunciation issues in Spain, but [name_f]Kira[/name_f] is used there)
[name_f]Lola[/name_f]
[name_f]Zoe[/name_f]
Some of these may be more popular than she’s looking for, but I figured I’d suggest them just in case.
I went for super similar or derived names from both Spanish & [name_m]Irish[/name_m] origins, which could be used as nicknames or just confirmation that the pronunciations exist in both countries. Formatted as: Spanish version – [name_m]Irish[/name_m] version. Sorry for any repeats!
[name_f]Sofia[/name_f] – [name_f]Fia[/name_f]
[name_f]Elena[/name_f] – [name_f]Alaina[/name_f] or [name_f]Alana[/name_f]
[name_f]Lula[/name_f] – [name_f]Tallulah[/name_f]
[name_f]Alvira[/name_f] – [name_f]Alva[/name_f]
[name_f]Brisa[/name_f] – [name_f]Bree[/name_f]
[name_f]Carmen[/name_f] – [name_m]Carlin[/name_m]
[name_f]Nina[/name_f] – [name_f]Noreena[/name_f]
[name_f]Catalina[/name_f] – [name_f]Kathleen[/name_f]
[name_f]Quintana[/name_f] – [name_f]Quinn[/name_f]
[name_f]Marisol[/name_f] – [name_f]Maire[/name_f]
[name_f]Coletta[/name_f] – [name_f]Colleen[/name_f]
[name_f]Ramona[/name_f] – [name_f]Mona[/name_f]
[name_f]Dolores[/name_f] – [name_f]Doreen[/name_f]
[name_f]Rosa[/name_f] / [name_f]Rosalia[/name_f] – [name_f]Rosaleen[/name_f] / [name_f]Roisin[/name_f]
[name_f]Solana[/name_f] – [name_f]Sloane[/name_f]
[name_f]Mora[/name_f] – [name_f]Moira[/name_f]
Also wanted to suggest [name_f]Kara[/name_f] / [name_f]Cara[/name_f], which is used in a bunch of European countries. [name_f]Hope[/name_f] this helped!
My immediate instinct was Dolores!
It’s a Spanish name with a strong Irish connection, being the name of the late great singer of The Cranberries, Dolores O’Riordan. She was a total badass, and overall a pretty amazing person and musician. You could get a few nicknames out of it (e.g Lori, Dol, Dolly, Loris, Lora, Ollie, Ris and Lola), and it’s not particularly common these days, meaning she wouldn’t find too many name double-ups in her school classes. If they’re Cranberries fans, this choice would make even more sense.
Hope they find the perfect name!
Esmeralda
Rosabel
Ada
Emilia
Cordelia
Miranda
Celeste
Amelia
Lavinia
Sonia
Frida
Ursula
Irene
Alicia
Celia
India
Nora
Elsa
Lena
Flora
Helena
Mina
Cora
Iris
Lina
Mara
Clara
Ingrid
Nina
Vita
Astrid
Carmen
Augusta
Gloriana
Araminta
Cornelia
Dulcinea
Octavia
Eugenia
Aurelia
Magdalena
Lucinda
Viviana
Alba
Isadora
Penelope
Ines
Selma
Doris
Antonia
Melina
Castalia
Adelina
Delia
Cecilia
Victoria
Selina
Maribel
Aurora
Marisol
Clementina
Isabel
Leonora
Mariana
They could also use a mix of Spanish and [name_m]Irish[/name_m] names to represent both cultures. For example:
[name_f]Araceli[/name_f] [name_f]Maeve[/name_f]
[name_f]Eilish[/name_f] [name_m]Cielo[/name_m]
[name_f]Saoirse[/name_f] [name_f]Milagros[/name_f]
[name_f]Muriel[/name_f] [name_f]Estrella[/name_f]
[name_f]Cleona[/name_f] [name_m]Sol[/name_m]
[name_f]Amada[/name_f] [name_f]Croía[/name_f]
[name_f]Talulla[/name_f] [name_f]Beatriz[/name_f]
Laiose [name_f]Nayeli[/name_f]
[name_f]Aisling[/name_f] [name_f]Rocio[/name_f]
[name_m]Edel[/name_m] [name_f]Rosaura[/name_f]
[name_f]Aoife[/name_f] [name_f]Blanca[/name_f]
[name_f]Enya[/name_f] [name_m]Amor[/name_m]
)
