My most unpronounceable favourite is Eilidh a Scottish name that is pronounced Ay-lee. My problem with EIlidh is can a 2nd and 3rd generation Australian of only about 60% Scottish ancestry (Grandma from near Glasgow, three great grandparents from Scotland, One from England and Granddad from England) really use it in Australia? My mum has had a lot of trouble with her Scottish name (Elspeth) and thats easier to understand then Eilidh.
Eilidh doesn’t chart in Australia but it is at 1075 in England and Wales and at 22 in Scotland. Eilidh means “Sun, radiant one” or is the Scottish variation of Eleanor.
Eilidh is a darling name that deserves to get more popular if only people could work out how to say and spell it properly, I mean after seeing the struggles my mum has had with her name I wouldn’t love an even harder one.
I think you can certainly use it, but the spelling really does seem like a bit of a bugbear. The sound is very much on trend, with the AY sound shared with Kaylee, Ayla, and a host of other names.
I read a children’s book written in (I think) the 1940s or ’50s, and one of the characters was named Ailie. I thought that was a very odd name, and it’s only quite recently that I’ve twigged that the author wrote the name Eilidh so that people would know how to pronounce it.
I love it but the spelling is just hard to get in Australia. I just think Ailie would get Allie a bit and it looks wrong to me.
It looks weird to me as well! Even Aylee seems better, although then it looks a bit made up.
I think I would rather the struggles of Eilidh at least its authentic
Same here.
And also it’s like seeing Rosheen instead of Roisin (coming in 4 posts time :))