Opinions of Brigid and Colleen?

Girl Names
1

We aren’t planning on having another child for awhile (our 1st just turned a year old this week!), but I can’t stop thinking about baby names! Between my husband and I, I feel like we’re come up with sort of strict criteria for naming our children which is really limiting our choices.

My husband’s family is Irish. His first name is [name]Kevin[/name] and our last name starts with Mc. He would like all of our children to have Irish names. He has suggested a number of traditionally spelled Irish names (example: [name]Siobhan[/name]), but I just can’t get behind a name that will be so difficult for people (including our child!) to spell and pronounce. Plus, his name [name]Kevin[/name] is the Anglicized spelling of Caoimhín and the spelling of our last name is Anglicized as well.

The name we chose for our daughter is [name]Maura[/name]. It is an Anglicized spelling of Máire, the Irish form of [name]Mary[/name]. He very much wanted to use the Irish spelling, but he conceded to me since I was the one growing the kid. LOL! I think her name is perfect for the 1st born daughter of an Irish-American Catholic.

The name we have picked out for a son is [name]Patrick[/name]. Yes, we know it’s not really an Irish name, but it is associated with [name]Ireland[/name]. We also met on St. [name]Patrick[/name]'s day, so it’s significant for that reason. I guess we’d be using it as an Anglicized version of Pádraig.

Now we’re stuck on a name if baby #2 turns out to be another girl. He suggested [name]Brigid[/name]/[name]Bridget[/name] (not sure how he’d spell it), but I’m not sure how I feel about it. It’s not a name I’ve ever considered before. I’ve never even known a [name]Brigid[/name], but I associate the name with a mean popular girl or a ditsy girl for some reason. I think I could be persuaded to get over that, though. It is a [name]Saint[/name] name, like [name]Patrick[/name] and [name]Maura[/name], so it has that going for it. I’m just not sure if others have the same negative connotations with it that I have? Should I let him have his choice if we have a baby girl #2?

The name I suggested is [name]Colleen[/name]. His response was “meh.” I really like it, though! I know it’s not a name used in [name]Ireland[/name], but it’s an Irish-American name. I have heard that some people think it’s demeaning that it just means “girl,” but I think that’s so cute. My husband calls me girl all the time, and my parents’ nickname for me was derived from my older sister calling me “the girl” and my twin brother “the boy” instead of referring to us by our names when we were infants. [name]One[/name] possible drawback for me, though, is that my sister named her son [name]Cole[/name]. [name]Do[/name] you think it’s too similar/weird for cousins to be named [name]Cole[/name] and [name]Colleen[/name]?

I’m totally open to other suggestions as well, but like I said we have somewhat strict criteria on what names we will consider, plus my uncle named all of his 5 kids (4 daughters, 1 son) Irish/Scottish/Welsh names, so that has narrowed the choices considerably as well. My husband hates Irish last names that are used as first names because our last names has become a very popular name for little girls recently. I definitely want a name that is pronounceable and spell-able in English, but I also want it to be a commonly accepted spelling, not some new kre8tyve monstrosity. We like more traditional names, nothing too trendy.

2

I really love [name]Bridget[/name] (prefer this to [name]Brigid[/name]) and [name]Colleen[/name]. They make me want to find an Irish novel and get lost in a good story. I think [name]Maura[/name] and [name]Bridget[/name] would be fantastic!

3

I HATE to ruin a lovely name… but I think Frigid [name]Brigid[/name] must be pointed out. [name]Bridget[/name] is very cute. [name]Morrigan[/name] is a Celtic [name]Goddess[/name] so might not fit with your Catholic roots.

[name]How[/name] about [name]Maureen[/name]? So cute with [name]Maura[/name] and sounds like [name]Colleen[/name] (which I like btw).

4

I like both spellings of [name]Brigid[/name]/[name]Bridget[/name]. I went to high school with 2 Bridgets and outside of school I know 1 [name]Brigid[/name].

other suggestions
[name]Abigail[/name]
[name]Honora[/name]
[name]Johanna[/name]
[name]Isolde[/name]
[name]Aisling[/name]

5

[name]Maureen[/name] is a diminutive of [name]Maura[/name]. Haha! I don’t think we’ll be giving 2 of our children the same name.

6

[name]Maureen[/name] is a diminutive of [name]Maura[/name]. Haha! I don’t think we’ll be giving 2 of our children the same name.
Thanks for pointing out the Frigid [name]Brigid[/name] thing. I thought I preferred that spelling because something about the word bridge being in [name]Bridget[/name] bothers me, but that hadn’t occurred to me.

7

Thanks for the suggestions. I always feel bad when people suggest names to me and I don’t feel like any of them will work, but I don’t.

My mom was almost named [name]Abigail[/name] after her dad ([name]Albert[/name] nn [name]Ab[/name]), but he didn’t like the name, so I’m staying away from it.

2 of my close friends have daughters named [name]Eleanor[/name] and [name]Lenora[/name], both nn [name]Nora[/name], so I’d rather not use another [name]Nora[/name] name like Honors.

[name]Johanna[/name]…I just don’t like it, sorry.

[name]Isolde[/name] is beautiful and I love it! It doesn’t feel usable to me, though. Also, it’s Welsh. I love so many Welsh name, too, but I don’t know if my husband can be persuaded away from Irish names.

[name]Aisling[/name] is nice, but I think it’s hard to spell and pronounce and the Anglicized spelling looks fake to me. It reminds me of the movie Book of Kells, though, which I love!

8

Yeah, [name]Brigid[/name] is too close to frigid for me, the [name]Bridget[/name] spelling is better but there’s something about the name that is a bit harsh-sounding to my ears, completely different to the soft sounds of [name]Maura[/name] (lovely name, btw). [name]Colleen[/name] I like, I don’t think it’s too close to [name]Cole[/name] because they’re not even pronounced the same - if it was said [name]Cole[/name]-leen then maybe too close, but as it’s a shorter ‘o’ sound I think it’s fine. And if little [name]Cole[/name]'s already been born, and you’re not planning on having another child for a while yet, then they won’t be that close in age either. [name]How[/name] often do you see your sister and her son? If it becomes a problem, just call your daughter by a nickname - [name]Leena[/name], maybe?

9

My DH is Irish-American, so I understand the frustration of trying to find the right names to go with your last name! (My son’s mn is [name]Patrick[/name], by the way, and we love it!)

I know one [name]Bridget[/name] (I love this spelling!), and one [name]Brigid[/name]. To my knowledge, [name]Brigid[/name] has never had any teasing problems regarding her first name. She is very bright, articulate and sociable.
She has a sister named [name]Colleen[/name] in fact, and I have always liked this name. I don’t think [name]Colleen[/name] is too close to [name]Cole[/name].

[name]How[/name] about [name]Catherine[/name], [name]Claire[/name] or [name]Caitlin[/name]?

10

I agree, [name]Bridget[/name] sounds and looks so harsh to me! I do feel like the names go together historically/in a religious context, but I just don’t love it like I love [name]Maura[/name]. I thought since my husband likes it so much, I could live with the [name]Brigid[/name] spelling (which looks softer and simpler to me at least) and call her Birdy for short, but that was before the Frigid [name]Brigid[/name] thing was brought to my attention.

I have heard people say [name]Cole[/name]-leen, although I don’t pronounce it that way. I just worry my sister will feel like I’m stealing her name. Or that my parents won’t like having grandkids with similar names. I also know that my parents don’t like the name [name]Cole[/name] at all (in fact, my mom still talks about it and he’s 2 now!) so maybe they wouldn’t like the name [name]Colleen[/name]? I don’t know, I love [name]Colleen[/name] and dislike [name]Cole[/name], so maybe they’ll feel the same way.

Does anyone have any thoughts on the name [name]Deirdre[/name]? I remember hearing it when I was very young and liking it because it was different, but I don’t know whether I like it or not now. There is a family friend on my husband’s side with this name, but I’ve never met her (she has sent gifts for [name]Maura[/name], though, so that’s how I know of her ) so I don’t know if this is a person my husband or his family would like for us to honor.

11

My name is [name]Kathryn[/name] and DH’s sister is [name]Kaitlin[/name]. I do like [name]Claire[/name], but I’ve heard that name a lot recently. [name]Do[/name] you think it’s getting TOO popular?

12

[name]Deirdre[/name] is very pretty, but can be pronounced differently, depending on who you talk to. I say DEAR-druh. I have also heard it pronounced as
[name]DEE[/name]-druh.

Another suggestion is [name]Shannon[/name], which I have always thought was a pretty Irish girl’s name.

I don’t think [name]Claire[/name] is getting too popular - I think it is a classic name that has strong Irish connections (County [name]Clare[/name]) and will never go out of style. You could always go with [name]Clara[/name], instead.

13

Okay…what’s worse: Frigid [name]Brigid[/name] or [name]Bridget[/name] the Midget? That one was just brought to my attention. All the women on both sides of our family are short (DH’s mom is less than 5 feet tall!) so our daughters are likely to be called midgets anyway, but it would be downright cruel to give one of them a name that rhymes with it, wouldn’t it?
Ugh…I can’t believe he likes this name.

14

It sounds like [name]Brigid[/name]/[name]Bridget[/name] are not the right names for you. [name]How[/name] about using it as a middle name?

15

I like [name]Brigid[/name] more than [name]Colleen[/name] but I like a couple of the Anglicized -leen names:

[name]Rosaleen[/name] (which is a corruption of [name]Roisin[/name], but is easy to say, light, pretty, definitely tied to [name]Ireland[/name], and so uncommon it doesn’t even feel dated).
[name]Kathleen[/name], which is related to [name]Caitlin[/name] but doesn’t have as many around in the baby age group and also feels a bit more vintage to me. [name]Kay[/name] and [name]Kitty[/name] are both cute for short. Doesn’t have as many spelling issues as [name]Caitlin[/name]/[name]Kaitlyn[/name] etc.

Also:
[name]Erin[/name], which is as unhistoric as [name]Colleen[/name]. I just really like [name]Erin[/name].
[name]Clare[/name], which just feels more definitely Irish to me than [name]Claire[/name] without being [name]Niamh[/name]/[name]Siobhan[/name] type difficult at all.
[name]Maeve[/name]
[name]Molly[/name] - “mainstream name lightly Irish-flavoured” to me.
[name]Nora[/name] - Pretty much the same as [name]Molly[/name] in terms of being a completely believable Irish choice without being a challenging name for the uninitiated.

16

I have a couple of suggestions.

Now I know that you wouldn’t go for [name]Aoife[/name] but if you say it as [name]Eva[/name] it becomes very usable, secondly there is [name]Hannah[/name] and you can’t go wrong with her.

From the names suggested I think [name]Claire[/name] is a good fit even though it is not a name that I would choose.

I really like [name]Deidre[/name] and especially for a red head (just my opinion) and I say it as Deed ree.

[name]Erin[/name] is nice but seems a bit dated.

What about [name]Isla[/name] which would vaguely refer to the island of [name]Ireland[/name].

17

I like [name]Bridget[/name] and [name]Colleen[/name] together as a first and middle name. [name]Bridget[/name] means “strong” and [name]Colleen[/name] (as you know) means “girl”. So in the Irish language (is it gaelic? idk whatever) your daughter would be “Strong Girl”. In fact, I have an Irish character in a story I wrote whose full name was [name]Bridget[/name] [name]Colleen[/name] Thimbleswurst. She is a very strong girl with crazy red hair and emerald green eyes; she is witty and has a sharp tongue.So yeah. I like the thoughts of a [name]Bridget[/name] [name]Colleen[/name] for you!

18

Oh, some of you have wonderful suggestions. But this is where the OTHER problem crops up - our families have already used many of these names.

I freaking love love [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Isla[/name] and [name]Maeve[/name] and [name]Fiona[/name]. But, those are my cousins’ names.

We considered naming our 1st daughter [name]Molly[/name], so obviously we love that, but [name]Maura[/name] = [name]Mary[/name] and [name]Molly[/name] = [name]Mary[/name], so it would be like giving both girls the same name. DH jokingly suggested that we could just name all our daughters some version of [name]Mary[/name] since we like so many [name]Mary[/name] names (and his mom totally thought that was a great idea! CRAZY!), but we wouldn’t seriously do that.

[name]Nora[/name] is pretty, but it’s my BFF’s daughter’s name. Plus, I think it sounds a little too similar to [name]Maura[/name].

I like the name [name]Kathleen[/name], but I also have a cousin named [name]Kathleen[/name]. Plus, I’m [name]Kathryn[/name] and my [name]SIL[/name] is [name]Kaitlin[/name]. There are already too many of us in this family! LOL!

So, I guess that leaves [name]Colleen[/name], [name]Deirdre[/name], [name]Clare[/name] (I agree, this spelling seems more Irish, whereas [name]Claire[/name] is French), [name]Hannah[/name] (never realized this was connected to [name]Ireland[/name] in any way - can you tell me more about that? It was my fav baby name in high school, until I heard the name [name]Maura[/name]), and [name]Erin[/name] (which does seem dated to me, plus I have negative connotations from an old classmate).

19

I tried to get DH to discuss this with me and he said, “how about we just name her [name]Moira[/name].” Why won’t he take this seriously!? (j/k I know why. I’m the crazy one in this situation. I just can’t stop thinking about it!)

20

I love [name]Hannah[/name] but I wouldn’t have particularly associated it with Irish names at all. It’s more (“Old Testament”) Bible than historically all that prevalent amongst Catholics as far as I know, who have always seemed to gravitate to the related [name]Ann/name?

[name]Aine[/name] would be Very Irish. [name]Alana[/name] and [name]Aideen[/name] might have a higher survival rate in terms of pronunciation. [name]Hannah[/name] has no real relation to [name]Alana[/name] but they remind me of each other in terms of rhythm. My most favourite Irish A-name for a girl is [name]Aisling[/name], but ais-says-ash would probably get wrecked all the time.

I like [name]Deirdre[/name] but my (Australian-of-Irish-descent) husband freaked the hell out about it. He says “dear-dree” but previously to him I had always heard “dear-druh.”