A woman has revealed that her Irish name is so unique that even other Irish people don't recognize it .
The dismayed social media user has detailed her battle with having to constantly explain the origin and pronunciation as nobody realises it is Irish . Taking to Reddit she revealed that she was named Máirín by her parents and has spent her life struggling to tell people what she is called .
She wrote: "My name is Máirín (More-ian), the Irish form of Maureen, slightly different pronunciation. I just want to share my experience of having a "unique" name. It's not very common in Ireland, and people struggle."
She then detailed how she gave up on correcting people and began to respond to the varying - and incorrect - attempts at the pronunciation instead. She continued: "I have had doctors, dentists, teachers, almost every body get it wrong. As a result I typically respond to Marian, May-rin, Morrin, Muireann, Marine, Mannion, and occasionally I respond to Morning out of habit."
Máirín also explained how while other people can often find their name on products such as keyrings and cards she is yet to see hers anywhere and has only ever met one other person with the same moniker. She explained: "I have never found a keyring, pen, door sign, card or anything with my name on it, and only ever shared my name once...with an 85 year old woman when I was 11."
While it is easy to imagine that those from other cultures might not know a good Irish name when they see or hear it, Máirín has even found that her compatriots are often also clueless when it comes to her name. She said: "Irish people don't tend to recognise it either. You'd be surprised how often I went to interviews and was told 'oh I didn't think you were Irish'..."
But despite her struggle with being understood over the years Máirín is adamant that she loves having a unique and special name and that she wouldn't change it for the world. She continued: "However, I love my name. Yes it's irritating to correct everybody, spell it out every single time I'm filling out a form, but its my own unique name, and it's meaning is very important in my family. Plus I can't imagine having any other name."
Máirín concluded by warning parents who are considering giving their child a traditional Irish name to consider the complications they may encounter. She concluded: "So parents considering an Irish name beware, the Irish struggle with them too! Also if the name has fadas (á, é, í, ó, ú) prepare for them to be left out of everything....bank cards, driver's license, etc. And prepare your children to fight with website forms that ask for a valid name when a fada is added in."
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