A MUM-TO-BE has been left doubting her Scottish baby name – with people insisting nobody will be able to pronounce it.
Picking a name for your little one can be an incredibly difficult task as you want to make sure you choose something unique, but not so unusual that your child gets bullied.
A mum-to-be is starting to doubt her daughter’s baby name[/caption]
Some people opt to name their child after their favourite book or film character, or even sports star.
Others find inspiration from elderly relatives and their family roots.
One woman, however, has revealed that her plans to give her little girl a Scottish name as a nod to her heritage is proving problematic as they live in America.
Posting on Reddit, the mum-to-be said: “I just recently found out I am having a girl (currently 4 months along) and my boyfriend and I have decided on a name.
“I have Irish and Scottish ancestry and he is South East Asian, so we decided to each take a first and middle name.
“The middle name he chose sounds exactly like it’s spelled, but the first name we both agreed on definitely does not.”
The name in question is Iseabail, pronounced ‘eesha-bell’.
Iseabail is the Scottish Gaelic form of Isabella, a name steeped in history and tradition throughout the ages.
Meaning ‘my God is an oath’, the name Isabella and its anglicised counterpart Elizabeth have been used by countless royals over the course of history.
In Scotland, only one baby girl was named Iseabail in 2023. Meanwhile, there were 17 Isobels, 12 Isabelles and six Isabels.
The pregnant woman continued: “I’ve been told my child will always get their name pronounced wrong and I’ve made jokes that it’ll build character but I’m honestly a bit worried since we are both American and this is a very Scottish name and spelling.
“I don’t want to have to Americanise the spelling but I also don’t know if I’m being obtuse on the issue and should compromise.
“I think the spelling is hard enough, I don’t mind a different pronunciation. I think the spelling itself is beautiful.”
And the mum-to-be isn’t the only one confused by the name, as it has left social media users divided.
Some think the she should reconsider the spelling, as one said: “Isabel is more ‘international’. I know you both like Iseabail very much, but she will be grateful in the future. Spelling the name is exhausting.”
A second wrote: “Personally I think that spelling is setting her up for a lot of spelling and pronunciation problems throughout her life and I would try to find a way to simplify it in a way that makes you happy.
“However the name itself is lovely and as long as you and your husband are happy that’s all that really matters.
“Your daughter will learn to adjust and will not be the only one with a ‘unique/weird’ spelling in her class or her work place.”
Meanwhile, a third added: “This is going to be a difficult name for people to spell and pronounce if you’re in the US.
“Even Isobel allows you to fairly easily say ‘we went with the Scottish spelling’ or something similar. But I worry that with Iseabail, the downside is that almost no one will be able to spell or pronounce her name.”
Others, however, have encouraged her to stick to the name.
“Keep it spelled the traditional way”, insisted one person.
“Nobody should ever change a cultural name to make it easier for others.”
And someone else chimed in: “The spelling jokes should only be reserved for people making names unnecessarily complicated, not when they are legitimate names from different countries. i think it’s beautiful!”
Banned Names in the UK
The UK has no law restricting names, but names that contain obscenities, numerals, misleading titles, or are impossible to pronounce are likely to be rejected when registering a child.
- Hitler
- Monkey
- Cyanide
- Martian
- Akuma
- Chow Tow
- Rogue
It’s not the first time Scotland has influenced a new mum’s baby name choices.
One woman revealed she turns to the map of Scotland to find inspiration for her kids’ names.
Sammi lives in England but chooses to name her children after Scottish places.
And another mum-to-be was forced to scrap her baby name choices after moving north of the border.
She told social media users she was disappointed after realising that people pronouncing the monikers in a Scottish accent would ‘change’ the names.
