Couple horrified to find out they've been saying their son’s name wrong for years

29 October 2021, 09:40

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A woman has revealed how her cousin has been pronouncing his son's name wrong for years.

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One couple have been left mortified after they realised they’ve been pronouncing their son’s name wrong.

Taking to Reddit, a 23-year-old user from Ireland explained that she had to break the news to her family members that their little one’s name wasn’t what they thought it was.

While her aunt and uncle lived in Ireland when she was growing up, they moved to England when her cousin Liam turned 18 so he could go to university there.

Now Liam has a four-year-old son and decided to pay homage to his Irish roots by giving his son an Irish moniker.

A couple have been left mortified after realising they have been pronouncing their baby name wrong. Picture: Alamy

While the woman didn't share the child's actual name, she gave a very similar example.

She explained: "Liam grew up in England, married an English girl, and had a son, who's four. For the sake of this post let's say they named him 'Oisin', which is an Irish name that is meant to be pronounced like 'oh sheen'.

"I am in England right now at university. I also have a son, who is three. Liam and I are within about an hour of each other and we had always meant to meet up. Liam suggested that yesterday, on Christmas, when he and his wife take Oisin to the park, that my son and I come and meet them.

"I had met Liam before when we were kids and teens (just a few times), but since Oisin was born we had only texted, so I had never heard Liam pronounce Oisin's name. We went to the park, we met up with them, and I said 'this must be Oisin'. Liam asked why I said it like that. I asked what he meant. He said it's pronounced like 'oi sin'. Like hoisin sauce without the h. I tried to move past it, introduced my son, sent the boys off to play."

A mum and dad have been pronouncing their baby's name wrong. Picture: Alamy

She continued: "Liam's wife asked about my son's name (also very Irish) and I told her. Liam joked that with all I know about Irish names, it was shocking that I'd mispronounced his son's name so badly. I said something like 'I'm not the one mispronouncing it'."

The woman later got a phone call from Liam's mum and dad, with the post adding: "I said it's really not. They said they were in Ireland until they were 18, so there's no way they could be saying it wrong.

"During this conversation, I also got a message from Liam saying I'd really upset his wife because she's now convinced that they've been calling their son the wrong name his entire life and that she loved his name before she met me."

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The post received hundreds of comments, with one person writing: "Irish is an entirely separate language with completely different rules to English. I don't understand why that is so hard for people to grasp.

"If people are going to use our language and culture they could at least have the decency to learn how to say it."

Someone else said: "I'm American and the number of people here who use alternative spellings and pronunciation is dizzying. I also agree that she was right to react that way at first meeting as long as she is respectfully going forward."