I already posted this in Talk About Names, but I thought I’d post it here too. Turlough, pronounced TUR-low, was the name of Irish harpist and composer Turlough O’Carolan, whose name was Anglicized from the Gaelic Toirdhealbhach O Cearbhallain. He was born in 1670 and wrote some of [name]Ireland[/name]'s most well-known melodies. I’m really liking his name! According to my source, Turlough means “shaped like [name]Thor[/name].” I think it would be very cool with the nickname [name]Tully[/name]. Any takers?
My friend’s father who is from [name]Ireland[/name] is named this, and pronounces it ‘TUR-lock.’ I’m personally not a huge fan, but if you like it, go for it!
It automatically makes me think of [name]Doctor[/name] Who, because there was a character with that name (his surname, but that’s what he was called) during the 80s. I actually kind of like it.
I think it’d be cool as a middle name, not sure how I feel about it as a first.
P.S. [name]James[/name] Deliverance and [name]Ransom[/name] [name]Horatius[/name] are very Puritan cool. I like them a lot.
I could get behind this, although I think the spelling Turlow or Turlowe would be more wearable. I look at Turlough and want to make it rhyme with rough or cough or through. That ough letter sequence is just one of the weirdest in the English language!
@megladonization–thanks for the pronunciation tip. I’m becoming increasingly frustrated with the pronunciations in my one baby name book! This is not the first time the book has been at variance with a real-life pronunciation. However, it says Toirdhealbhach is pronounced TOOR-deh-lock, so to contract it to TUR-lock makes sense. I don’t like it quite so well if that’s the correct pronunciation, though–outside [name]Ireland[/name], people hearing it might think it was a weird variant of [name]Sherlock[/name]!
@frustratedauthor–that’s good to know! Was it spelled this way?
@agirlinred–I’m inclined to agree. Thanks for the P.S.!
@jesba–thanks. I was going to post the question whether the spelling Turlow, Turlowe or even Turlo would make the name wear better. What do other people think?
Yeah, in [name]Doctor[/name] Who, Turlough was spelled the same way.
frustratedauthor–thanks for answering. That also answers the question of whether there’s a precedent for the TUR-low pronunciation.