Hello, can anyone tell me how the Irish name Colleen looks and/or is spelt in Gaelic. Also if it is pronounced differently? Any other general comments about the name (frequency, background, how it is received) are also appreciated. Many thanks!

Well, I could be wrong, but it may be ethimologically speaking, derived from 'cailín'.

I do not have any stats on the name. Any google search will throw up a mixed bag of sites, which I'd image you ahve seen already. http://cgi.sfu.ca/~gpeters/cgi-bin/pear/gender.php

I know in England that skanger scumbag Colleen, girlfriend of Wanye Rooney, has the name.

/ka(i)l'i:n'/ of 'cailín' is the quasi-IPA pronounciation. I don't belive that 'TYoooUadgggh oo eeeeNNN' or anything like it sounds like Irish, so will not write like that. Colleen is english, so it is pronounced as you do already.

I cannot see how ill it would be recieved. You might get some remarks about Wanye Rooney, but apart from that, I cannot see it been taken badly. While it is not the most popualar name for girls, any bad reception would be down to bad manners.

Doesn't Colleen mean "irish girl"? How would that appear in Gaelic?

Kind regards.

Hi Colleen,

"Cailín," which is the origin of the name "Colleen," just means girl, not Irish girl. This is how it is spelled in the Irish language.

As you can imagine, people in Ireland have not traditionally named their daughters this, for the same reason that English speakers have not named their daughters "Girl."

Le meas,
Nicole

http://namenerds.com/irish/trad.html

Here's a link to some traditional Irish names with pronunciation and meanings.

Sorry to bother again, but then how would you say "Irish girl"?

Thanks for everyone's help!

cailín éireannach

or Cailín Gaelach

They have a competition called that during the Gaeltacht football championship.

cailín Éireannach - capital letter for the adjective "Éireannach".