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Saoirse Ronan .. how does she pronounce it?

SepangBlueSepangBlue Posts: 4,848
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in Movies #1
I've recently watched Byzantium, which stars Saoirse Ronan among others .. interesting film!

I've never knowingly heard her name spoken and when I read it off the page, in my head it seems as if it should be pronounced 'Sorsha'.

I believe it's Irish in derivation and I know they have strange spellings for straightforward sounding names, but can anyone tell me how to pronounce Saoirse, please?

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    GortGort Posts: 7,467
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    #2
    From IMDb:
    In traditional Irish, the name Saoirse is pronounced "seer-sha", and that is the way she pronounces it when she's in Ireland. When she's talking to people from North America she pronounces it "sur-shuh".
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    Residents FanResidents Fan Posts: 9,204
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    #3
    Throatwobbler Mangrove. ;)
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    YuffieYuffie Posts: 9,864
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    #4
    As above, Seer-Sha.

    Or think Sarah but split it and drop 'sh' in

    Sar-sh-ah
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    Virgil TracyVirgil Tracy Posts: 26,806
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    #5
    she's explained in interviews that it rhymes with : inertia .
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    Conall CearnachConall Cearnach Posts: 874
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    #6
    Saoirse (pron. Seer Sha) is the Irish for Freedom. Sorsha (or Sorcha) is the equivalent of Sarah.
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    degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
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    #7
    Youtube her interviews. You can hear it directly from her.
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    bingbongbingbong Posts: 2,439
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    #8
    It looks like "say arse" probably called "sore arse" at school, kids are like that.
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    HughOSHughOS Posts: 2,984
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    #9
    bingbong wrote: »
    It looks like "say arse" probably called "sore arse" at school, kids are like that.

    Probably not since she went to school in Ireland and Saoirse isn't an uncommon name :D
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    pburke90pburke90 Posts: 14,758
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    #10
    Saoirse is pronounced "sear-sha" in Ireland. Some people pronounce it as "soar-ca" also. It usually depends on the region of Ireland as to how it is pronounced. The rest of the world seem to just say it as "sur-sha".
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    CLL DodgeCLL Dodge Posts: 115,873
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    #11
    How do you pronounce Ronan?
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    Conall CearnachConall Cearnach Posts: 874
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    #12
    Paddy C wrote: »
    Saoirse is pronounced "sear-sha" in Ireland. Some people pronounce it as "soar-ca" also. It usually depends on the region of Ireland as to how it is pronounced. The rest of the world seem to just say it as "sur-sha".

    Saoirse (sear sha) and Sorcha (sore ka) are two different names.
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    mike65mike65 Posts: 11,386
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    #13
    CLL Dodge wrote: »
    How do you pronounce Ronan?

    Row-nan/ro-nan
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    TakaeTakae Posts: 13,555
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    #14
    CLL Dodge wrote: »
    How do you pronounce Ronan?

    A work colleague has that as his first name and he pronounces it as ro-nun. It's more between nun and none.

    He's from County Antrim if it counts.
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    simysimy Posts: 1,498
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    #15
    That's just his accent.
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    TakaeTakae Posts: 13,555
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    #16
    simy wrote: »
    That's just his accent.

    That's likely. That's why I mentioned his place of origin. :D
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    pearlsandplumspearlsandplums Posts: 29,594
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    #17
    I was at a party with some English people a few years back and tried to get them to pronounce irish names. It's fairly common but siobhan is always a funny one to ask someone to pronounce if they've never heard it. Sigh o ban
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    Residents FanResidents Fan Posts: 9,204
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    #18
    Takae wrote: »
    A work colleague has that as his first name and he pronounces it as ro-nun. It's more between nun and none.

    He's from County Antrim if it counts.


    Probably a regional variation. Down in Cork, it's pronounced "Row-Nahn".
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    NoseyLouieNoseyLouie Posts: 5,651
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    #19
    shiorsay row nahn...but thats from a Gaidhlig pronunciation..Scottish i suppose.

    So it is sheer-sa? uill gle mhath! you live and learn..taing!
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    NoseyLouieNoseyLouie Posts: 5,651
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    #20
    Sorry to ask this on this thread..but is Cillian, pronounced Killiyun? The actor, Murphy?! :-) While we are at it hehe!
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    MoleskinMoleskin Posts: 3,098
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    #21
    pearlsandplums wrote: »
    I was at a party with some English people a few years back and tried to get them to pronounce irish names. It's fairly common but siobhan is always a funny one to ask someone to pronounce if they've never heard it. Sigh o ban

    You've got to admit they can be difficult because they're not pronounced how they're spelt, Aoife for example pronounced "ee-fa" rather than "ao-if" and Caoimhe pronounced "kee-va" even though it looks nothing like that.
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