Is the spelling and pronunciation of [name]Oisin[/name] just far too confusing for a child living outside of [name]Ireland[/name]?
My husband has strong Irish heritage which he is very proud of. We also have a very typical Irish surname so using an Irish name does seem like a good fit, but we live in Australia and I’m wondering if this name is just going to be more trouble that it’s worth?
Personally, I absolutely [name]ADORE[/name] the name. I love the meaning “little deer”, the sound “Oh-sheen” and the incredible history. [name]Oisin[/name] was regarded in legend as the greatest poet of [name]Ireland[/name], and also a warrior - I feel that this comes through in the name; both soft and strong qualities. I also love that it sounds like the word ‘[name]Ocean[/name]’. I thought Oshi could be a cute nickname.
I’m not sure that the english spelling [name]Ossian[/name] really clears up pronunciation issues… and [name]Osheen[/name] just looks terribly dumbed down to me.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this name, how you would pronounce it, and which spelling you prefer.
I think [name]Oisin[/name] is perfectly usable for you. I think its a handsome, underused classic Irish name. Unfortunately, I find Ossain (which looks like an Arabic name to me) and I agree that [name]Osheen[/name] looks dumbed down. I would go with [name]Oisin[/name] if you are willing to spell it out all the time. I just think the alternative spellings look incredibly unattractive. Sorry! Best wishes.
[name]Oisin[/name] is lovely. [name]Ossian[/name] seems like all the same explaining/mispelling potential minus the authenticity. [name]Osheen[/name] looks hideous.
I like it. We’re in Australia too. I’ve heard it out here before. My husband loves Irish names and is Irish descent (with an Irish last name) but it’s off the table for us because of my own background. Anything that might get cut down to Sheeny is off the table for a kid with a Jewish mother. Assuming that its a 9999 to 1 chance that’s an issue for you, I’d go for it.
[name]Ossian[/name] definitely doesn’t help matters – I’d never get the correct pronunciation from that. And [name]Osheen[/name] is just silly looking. If the name is as perfect as it sounds for you guys, a bit of spelling and pronunciation correction won’t make a difference. Plus, Irish names are so popular now that it seem inevitable that people will eventually (not saying any time soon, but eventually) know a bit more about Irish pronunciations. Go with [name]Oisin[/name]. I actually have a cousin named [name]Oisin[/name] (in [name]Ireland[/name]) and he and his family pronounce is more like “aw-sheen”. Maybe it’s their accent though.
[name]Oisin[/name] is one of my favourites
Honestly, an [name]Oisin[/name] living outside of the British Isles (or [name]Ireland[/name], in fact) probably would get a lot of misspellings and mispronunciations. But is that a huge deal for you? I personally wouldn’t be very bothered by it -so he has to say ‘It’s oh-sheen, not oi-sinn’ to people occasionally (how often do you actually see names written before you hear them?), will that majorly impact his life? It’s obviously an issue but I don’t think it’s large enough to rule out the other qualities of the name.
If you go for it, I would say [name]Oisin[/name] or nothing; the others just look silly to me.
[name]Oisin[/name] is a wonderful name, especially with your Irish heritage. Some people would probably mis-pronounce it the first time reading it (though teachers are really the only people who ever read a name before hearing it spoken, so I really don’t feel that’s a big deal at all. He’d deal with some mispronunciation issues on the first day of each school year, and really pretty rarely thereafter), but it’s pronunciation is relatively simple and would be pronounced correctly every later time. Changing this particular name to an easier spelling seems to take a lot of the awesomeness away from the name. Some names work okay when changed (for example, I really can’t decide whether I prefer Cianan or [name]Keenan[/name]), but [name]Osheen[/name] looks and feels strange to me.
