Since I've recently adopted the pseudonym Shawn, I've been tempted to also refer to myself as "Shawneen." Well, I did a google search http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=shawneen and from that search yeilding over 11,000 entries, I now have the impression that Shawneen is a female's name. Before I did the google search, I thought there would be no entries for "Shawneen," but there appears to be many women, and very talented, that are named "Shawneen."

Would someone be able to clarify this? I had thought "Shawneen" would mean "Johnny," but I think I'm mistaken.

Go raibh maith agaibh

It was once used to refer to "West Brits". Not a nickname I'd willingly choose, but as you're an adventurous sort, a mhic . . . go maire tú é.

A Chionaoidh,
"Foclóir Gaedhilge agus Béarla" has the following:
Seoinín, a shoneen, jackeen or johnnie, an aper of foreign ways, a flunkey, a settler, a small farmer, a poor Protestant (Tip.); dim. of Seon. As in John Bull.

From A Dictionary of Anglo-Irish (Diarmaid Ó Muirithe):

"A derisory name for an Irishman who apes English ways."

quote:

Seoinín, a shoneen, jackeen or johnnie, an aper of foreign ways.....

"A derisory name for an Irishman who apes English ways."

It's interesting to see how some folks look at things in a negative light, as in this discussion of Shawneen. As a direct comparison, I could see us discussing the name "John" and the same folks would probably ignore the fact that "John" is a very popular name and instead bring up the fact the "John" means a customer of a prostitute and also a slang term for a toilet.

Oh well, looking on the bright side, I've learned a new Irish first name "Seon" and its dimunitive form "Seoinín" from http://www.phouka.com/gaelic/book01/exe25-1.htm

Seon (shōn), John
Seoinín (shōn'-een), little John

Eoin is the oldest from of the Irish for John, hence, MacEoin, MacKeon, Johnson. Seon is a later form; hence the diminutive Seoinín = Jackeen.

I had assumed you meant Seán and the diminutive was Seánín.

I must admit I have never seen the spelling Seon before.

It's interesting to see how some folks look at things in a negative light, as in this discussion of Shawneen.

Perhaps apes find "aping" to be a positively "positive" sort of activity, a mhic.

;-)

quote:

Perhaps apes find "aping" to be a positively "positive" sort of activity, a mhic

Tá an ceart agat, a Chionaodh! And funny at the same time. I wonder how men and boys in Ireland with the name Seon and/or Seoinín would respond to their name being associated in a derisory manner. Would they be embarassed, insulted, or pay no heed? Perhaps you or Llorcan could personally ask someone with that name the next time either of you are in Ireland. I would be very interested in their response, especially if it's in a pub setting.

Not that I mind, but we seem to be discussing a different name than the one I posed in the question initially posted for this thread. So, although it's enlightening to see how a particular name such as Seoinín has derisory meanings, I'm still curious as to whether Shawneen can be a male's name, or is it solely a female's name.

P.S. My apologies if a mis-lenited your name.

A Shawn a chara,

Shawneen is whatever gender of a name it appears to be, in your case you found lots of instances of being a girl name so that is what it must be. Someone probably just thought of it and liked the sound, without knowing its connotations and decided it would be pretty. And I doubt that you'll run into any guys in Ireland with seanin (or which ever spelling anyone prefers) as a name.

Beir bua agus beannacht

I've never heard of this name before either, but it both looks and sounds like a female name. *shrug*

I confess that if I didn't know otherwise I would have assumed it was a made-up name that was invented by somebody desiring a unique yet vaguely "Irishy" name kinda sorta know what I mean hun? *bubblegum crack* :)

Actually, one particular group came instantly to mind, so I'll direct you to a website that has amused me for lo these many years:

http://wesclark.com/ubn/

And, sure as the sun will cross the sky, the name Shawnyne is on it!

A Riona, a chara, thanks for confirming my inclination that Shawneen is a woman's or girl's name. If you click on the google link that I posted at the top of this thread, you'll find over 11,000 entries for "Shawneen," which means there are quite a number of people who like the name Shawneen. I quickly scanned through the entries and found that many of the women who have this name are quite creative people, so I guess I'm naturally inclined to now asssociate positive attributes to the name Shawneen, a name I never would have thought existed.

Buíochas le Aonghus, tá leasainm nua agat, ach is maith liom na ainmneacha Shawn agus Shawneen.

is maith liom na ainmneacha Shawn agus Shawneen.

Go maire tú iad, a mhic.

A Dhomhnaill, what an interesting site - thank you! Here's an excerpt from a Washington Post article listed on the website you indicated above that I thought would be interesting to the other participants in this discussion on names:

quote:

"Madison" has become the second most popular name for baby girls in America ........ Thanks to a new federal baby name database that goes back past 1900, it is actually possible to track the provenance and popularity of the name Madison. From this source, one can see that Madison has historical roots, as do many popular names. Mary, for example, was the name of the mother of the Christian deity; David was a wise and compassionate king. Madison was the name of a mermaid played by Daryl Hannah in the 1984 movie "Splash." Her real name was an ear-piercing squeal, so she selected a new name from a street sign in midtown Manhattan.

Hmmm..... I wonder whether I should change my pseudonym to "Broadway" or maybe "Bowery."

I beseech anyone who is interested in this name discussion to check out the website that Domhnall indicated above, http://wesclark.com/ubn/ . It's chock full of absolutely hilarious articles on "naymes" Here's a link to a cartoon on names from the website that I found hilarious, especially since I have a daughter named Mary.

http://wesclark.com/ubn/name_cartoon.jpg

"Perhaps apes find "aping" to be a positively "positive" sort of activity, a mhic."

enough of this monkeybusiness =P

j/k

I wonder how men and boys in Ireland with the name Seon and/or Seoinín would respond to their name being associated in a derisory manner. Would they be embarassed, insulted, or pay no heed?

John = person who pays for his wee bit o' fun

or

John = toilet

and

Johnny = skimpy hospital nightie

I'm sure that each of these causes the bearer some small degree of embarrassment. In contrast, Seán doesn't carry those "extra" meanings. One need only avoid the unfortunate nickname Seáinín.

My favourite: DeShawn (!)

NevaJo, Nerida Belle etc for girls. Are they real names? Is NevaJo a corruption of the Native tribe?


"An online help for parents looking for that distinctive
name that says "I'm a Utah Mormon!""

Its funny how reading some prior material can prime one, one way or the other. Have read the above, I first percieved the site's statement to say 'I'm a Utah Moron'.


"Johnny = skimpy hospital nightie" are you alluding to a tubular membrane?

These are male names. Yes, Dorris is a male name

Digger

D'Loaf

Dockin

Dodge

Donl

D'oral

Dorris

Dorwayne

Dude

Dull

DuRant

Dwodger

Dyke

"Johnny = skimpy hospital nightie" are you alluding to a tubular membrane?

No, "Johnny" (or "Johnnie") is a nickname Americans use for the backless shift issued to patients in U.S. hospitals.

People's names are kind of strange in that anything goes! Maybe people are called Dick or Gay, and it isn't particularly weird.

Ever noticed how nobody pays much attention to the name of the company called "Virgin" (it's not a person's name, but still).

Only Seon or Seonín carries connotations, and has passed out of use for that reason.

Seáinín as the diminutive of Seán is common enough

Shawn Mac Léinn,
Since my name was brought up in one of your posts, I thought I might respond. The name Seáinín in Ireland would be a man's name like Johnny or Little John. I think a female named "Shawneen" sounds about as Irish as Colleen, Erin or any type of pseudo-Irish name of American invention. I suppose Americans think in terms of female names such as Maureen, Noreen, Cathleen etc.
The "-ín" is a dimunitive for either gender. I believe Seon is an obsolete name now; I have never encountered it. The -een ending seems popular with Appalachians in the U.S. often attaching it to the father's name to create such things as Carleen (like Andrew, Carl means "man") but as I mentioned in an earlier post Americans try to re-invent Ireland and Irish culture in general.
Why don't YOU try the name "Shawneen" out on some real Irish people and get their reaction?

quote:

as I mentioned in an earlier post Americans try to re-invent Ireland and Irish culture in general

The other day I was at the playground with my son and there happened to be some other kids there whose mother was born and raised in Ireland. We got to chatting and she told me that her name was Noeleen. When I asked her how she got that name, she told me she was born on Christmas Day, and so her parents gave her that name, "Noel" + "een," in honor of being born on that day.
So it looks like, at least in one case, the "een" ending has been used in Ireland also. Go figure.

quote:

Why don't YOU try the name "Shawneen" out on some real Irish people and get their reaction?

After reading Aonghus' post above, I have the impression that Seáinín has no negative connotations, although Cionaodh seems to feel otherwise. So, after thinking about it, if I pronounced to some real Irish folks "Shawneen," they would take it as me saying "Seáinín which Aonghus points out is common enough.

My suggestion was regarding "Seoinín, which seems to be different in pronunciation than "Seáinín." The subject of this thread initially was about "Shawneen" which is an anglicization of "Seáinín." It seems we are also discussing another name, Seoinín, for some reason unbeknownst to me, that is different in pronunciation than Seáinín.

I did a Google search on "Showneen" and found one, possibly two entries. This entry:

http://snap.waterfordcoco.ie/collections/ebooks/101009/kerry%20extract.pdf#searc h=%22showneen%22

It's a book about Kerry, which seemed particularly interesting, because of the following excerpt from page 11 of the book: "'What are you doing, Showneen' says the young farmer to the child."

The book seems fairly old and I have no way of knowing when it was written, but it seems to contain the anglicization of "Seoinín." and is another example of "een" being used in Ireland. I wonder if we Americans got into the habit of using "een" from our Irish-immigrant ancestors?

There are other books at the site mentioned above that may be of interest to others. If someone could determine the date of the book described above, I would be grateful for the assistance.

"Is Shawneen a girl's name?" I say in the US anything goes as far as female names, we have girl's called Rory,
so why not? I think the name would be considered quite odd in Ireland for a girl. I think Cionaodh had Seáinín confused with Seoinín.
I never stated that -een endings were not used in Ireland: Peigín, Máirín, Nóirín, Báibín (Bairbre), Caitlín, Gearóidín, Pádraigín, Róisín, Saidhbhín are all Irish Gaelic names.
Male names: Seáinín, Séamuisín, Tomáisín, Taidhgín,
Neidín, Fraincín, Oisín, Páidín.
Riona: you might meet someone called Seáinín as a nickname, not as a legal name, but it remains a male name regardless of what Americans think it is. More
Poncánaíocht.

Another "-een" name you might find amusing... I'm sorry but when I hear any woman with an "-een" name, the first thing that springs to mind is Trash Talkin' Turleen:

http://trailertrashdoll.com/

I think Cionaodh had Seáinín confused with Seoinín.

I learnt the expression long before I started learning Irish, and although I later learnt the two variant spellings of it, have always avoided using either because of the implications associated with the one of them. It's too easy to accidentally insult someone.

I know quite a few Seáns and none of them like the moniker "Seáinín", perhaps for the reasons stated above.

Suffice it to say that if someone introduces themself as something that sounds like "Shawneen", it may be safe to use it, otherwise steer clear -- unless you like starting fights.

A Dhomhnaill,

That's hilarious! Your last posted site started to give me laughing pains! And I ain't lying through my tooth!

I was always told that adding an "ín" to the of the name gives the name a diminutive feeling to it.

I am wondering if the female name of "Shawneen" might be a bad take on the name Shannon? I know that "aw" hints at the name "Seán" but it is not uncommon for spelling and phonetics to differ when it comes to peoples names. Especially this day and age where people like to give new twists to common names.

Caitlin, Catelyn, Caitlen, Katelin, Katelen, Katelyn, Kaitlen...and have seen many more for this name.

I will try to this again...my orginal post doesn't seem to be showing.

I have always been told that adding an "ín" the end of a name gives the name a diminutive feeling to it.

I am wondering if the name "Shawneen" might be a bad take on the female name Shannon? I know the "aw" hints at the name "Seán," however it is not uncommon for phonetics and spelling to differ when it comes to people's names. Especially in this day and age when people like to give new twists to common names.

Just take the name "Cait" for example...here are just some of the names I have come across:

Caitlin, Catelin, Caitlyn, Catelyn, Kaitlin, Kaitlen, Kaitlyn, Katelin, Katelen, Katelyn, and I am sure that there are more.

In general usage in Irish, I think the "ín" suffix quite consitently means "small", but has no significant meaning if an arbitrary word simply has it as its ending sound, rather than a suffix. For instance, the following words end in "ín", but it isn't a suffix, it's just how the word sounds:

cailín
coinín
gairdín

The following, however, is born out of a base word:

súilín

"súil" means "eye", "ín" means "small". "súilíní" is the Irish word for "sparkles".

But "cailín" is a diminutive! The base word is "caile," which has fallen out of usage itself but survives in another word for "girl": "gearrchaile."

I don't know about the other two examples...

The point I was trying to get across...diminutive aside...is that I think that if we heard people say the name "Shawneen" we might be surprized as to what they are actually saying...

We hear "Shawn" and think "Seán" because of our understanding of Irish phonetics...however, it is possible that "Shaw" could be "Shah, Shoh, Shuh..." depending on how the person says it.

We know "Shannon" is a female's name. It is not out of the realm of possiblity that "aw" could have been used to write how someone heard the name being pronounced, for instance, it could be that someone said "Shannon" and someone heard "Shawneen."

We know "Shannon" is a female's name.

"Shannon" is an Anglicised name of a river. Apropos of another thread on this board, Americans have a strange fondness for imposing placenames on their children in lieu of names traditionally associated with humans (instead preferring to use names for land masses or bodies of water).

The Irish version of that river's name sounds nothing like "Shawneen", so I doubt anyone misheard it and named their child in error.

I would instead posit that when such crudely phoneticised names (like "Shawneen") occur, it's often just plain old "I don't care a whit what culture I'm insulting" brass-gonad-style hubris on the part of the parents. Some people take a liking to a certain sound and give it their own spelling (such as Seáinín rendered Shawneen), while other parents see an interesting "foreign" name and decide to impose upon it their own "pronunciation" (hence Caitlín becomes Kate-Lynn).

I think that if parents like a mispronounciation of some name such as in the Caitlin/Katelyn situation, they should use an invented spelling that conveys the misprounciation without messing up the original name/spelling/pronounciation.

My friend's little daughter is named Jasmine and I call her Jaseen most of the time.

Beir bua agus beannacht

Actually, it is quite possible for "Shannon" to become "Shawneen".

You have to play the phonetic leap frog...but given the differences in languages this is going to happen anyway...

Shannon can easily be said...and is...by people even here in the US and Canada as "Shannehn" where the last vowel becomes an "eh" vs. "on." The "eh" is most often an "i" in languages using the latin alphabet.

So a person could hear and write "Shannin."

Ask any person who speaks and Italic language how they would pronounce "Shannin" and see what you get???

I am willing to bet it comes out something like "Shawneen".

Why? Because they see an "aw, or ah" and an "ee" for vowels...unless you told them the original word...could they be blamed for saying it like that?

There is a character in JM Synge's classic Irish play "The Playboy of the Western World" called Shawn Keogh, who has romantic designs on the heroine Pegeen Mike. She refers to him witheringly as Shawneen

Shawneen is a slithery "go-by-the wall" sort of character. Perhaps in naming the character Synge was thinking of Seoinin connotations that pertained to the name in the past.

Haigh! Cad faoi an pobal seo. Ní eascraíonn gach rud ón Ghaeilge:http://www.merceronline.com/Native/native02.htm

Gach seans go bhfuil an cheart ar fad agat, a fhirn, agus gur deisceartach baineann gach Shawneen a fuair F.I.L. thuas!

Níl sé i measc ainmneacha dílse na teangan s'acusan ach bheadh siad ar aon dul le lucht an bhéarla ag piocadh ainmneacha agus ag cumadh urra staire leo

Óh, tá cúpla 'haigh, ya ya' ar an leathanach sin; ceapaim go bhfuil 'fuaim na seoiníní' bog (teanga ar an tóin...)

An é sin teanga na Seánach agatsa, a bhearní?

Seanchas na Seánaigh!

Níl fhios agam go beacht cé tá ag lí tóin cén duine aige.

Bhfuil tú a rá gur theanga le tóin teanga na Seánach

Nílimse ag rá dada chomh graosta sin. Ach sin an meabhar a bhain mé as píosa Bhearnaigh thuas, má tá meabhar le baint as.

Sea, ní chughatsa a bhí mé, a aonghuis, ach scríobh bearnaí "(teanga ar an tóin...)". Tá mé admhálach nár bhain mé meabhair ar bith as a scríobh sé

Hi

I've come across the name Seánín before in Ardoyne in Belfast. From what I was told it is generally used to call a daughter after her father. E.G. Seán's first child is a girl so she carries her fathers name Seánín.
My name is after my father. His name is Edward and my mother was told in english my name meant Edwina which she was told was the female of Edward.
I was always led to believe that the addition of ín at the end of a word meant small or little. My sister's name is Réiltín, meaning little star (english version is Estelle or Stella).
Sorry I digress. Basically I am trying to say that what I was always told is that adding ín or the equivalent spelling/pronouncation to a word changes the meaning of the word to little or small.
Ergo Seánín means little Seán.

Éadaoin

If I'm not mistaken, it's the name Seonín, not Seánín, that carries the pejorative implications.

A Éadaoin,
So there is a female Seánín after all and this thread has come full circle. Should it not be Seáinín? (caol le caol). (Actually the female form of John would be Siobhán or Siún.)
I have the sense that most female names formed from masculine names like Pádraigín, Gearóidín, Póilín, etc. are of fairly modern coining.
It is refreshing to see new names being tastefully created such as Réiltín in addition to recycling some of the older Irish names.

I have always used in at the end of people's names to denote affection, such as Jasmine becomes Jasin, Beth becomes Bethin, Rachel becomes Rachin, Ashley becomes Ashlin etc. Pretend that all those ins have fadas over the i.

Beir bua agus beannacht

In this part of the US (northeast) I've never heard Seánín used for either a man or a woman. I've met several Shaunas spelt a variety of ways and one woman I knew had a son Sean and a daughter Shauna. She was German and I guess she just liked the sound.

In this part of the US (northeast) I've never heard Seánín used for either a man or a woman.

That's where I'm located, and no one I know uses "Seáinín", neither for themselves nor for others -- likely because it sounds like the perjorative term for one who apes English ways. To call someone that on the schoolyard was to provoke a fight. Avoiding its use in adulthood was/is part of the politeness expected of everyone.

Llorcan
My sister's name Réiltín comes from a story called The Power of Music. Its an old story and my mam read it when she was young and remembered the name.
While she was pregnant with my sister she read me the story and I was so taken with the name I asked her if she had a girl would she call her Réiltín? It wasn't until a few years later we were even told that that there was a english version. We knew that it meant "little star" but not Estelle or Stella. I've only come across the name a couple of times through friends etc, but I've never met anyone else who is called Réiltín.
I've met a Gearóidín in Belfast and I think thats a really pretty name too.
Sorry again rambling!!
I think the book the name Réiltín comes from may be out of print now but if anyone comes across if I would definately recommend buying it. Its very beautifully written. The story was written by Sinéad DeValera and the book is called "The Second Book of Fairy Tales" (I think!).
Éadaoin

buíochas le Dia níl Stella ar do dheirfiúr!

"Wats da staaree bud?"'s girlfriend/mot

quote:

To call someone that on the schoolyard was to provoke a fight. Avoiding its use in adulthood was/is part of the politeness expected of everyone.

I think it's a stretch to associate "Seáinín" with "Seoinín." Take a look at "Learning Irish" and you'll see a number of examples of "Seáinín" being used. I have difficulty imagining Boston "Sell-ticks" (Celtics) area school children versed enough in Irish terminology to comprehend the implications of "Seonín." As Aonghus has pointed out above, 'Seáinín as the diminutive of Seán is common enough.'

As long as we're on the subject of politeness, it's also "expected of everyone" to show respect, or at least restrain from cringing, in regards to folks' names. It's a part of "adulthood," nach ea? Making fun of someone's name may also likely "provoke a fight."

Scríobh MLnG:

I have difficulty imagining Boston area school children versed enough in Irish terminology to comprehend the implications of "Seonín."

As well as primary school students can "comprehend" anything, most of us knew it as an epithet and had some sense of why it was one.

And regarding your comment about "Sell-ticks" (which I omitted above for clarity), a fair number of us knew it was properly pronounced with a hard-C, and often pronounced it that way.

As long as we're on the subject of politeness, it's also "expected of everyone" to show respect, or at least restrain from cringing, in regards to folks' names. It's a part of "adulthood," nach ea?

Perhaps you're just being coy/cute to make a point, a mhic, but I interpret the "cringing" that people have been describing on this board to be entirely internal. It certainly is for me. I have met and been friends with many fine bearers of cringeworthy names. They could certainly change those names if they dislike them, and some people do, but most don't bother. If they choose to keep it, that's their business -- and none of my internal "cringing" will be evident.

I was also never one to poke fun of someone's name on a schoolyard, as I shouldn't like it done to me. Much less would I do so many decades later, despite your implication to the contrary, a mhic.

No sane person blames the bearer for their name (however ill-conceived it may be), though we may question (internally) the motives, tastes and perhaps even the sanity of the bestowers of such monikers.

In short, lots of us have opinions about the names we see & hear around us, and we may occasionally make reference to those opinions if discussion arises about names, but I know of no one using those opinions as a weapon against the unfortunate bearers of such names. If that's how you're receiving it, then I suggest you're over-sensitive. Perhaps you've bestowed a cringeworthy name upon someone?

Don't manufacture conflict where there is none, a mhic. We're here having a civil discussion, not hurling epithets on a playground. You're as entitled to your opinions as everyone else is, and while you could be right, you may also be wrong, as we all are from time to time.

I'm surprised this discussion has gone on as long as it has. What would anybody think of a German who introduced himself as Kraut Heckmann? Don't tell me you wouldn't find the moniker unfortunate to say the least.

Who knows why Seonín of all names became associated with a stereotype? It just did. Naming an Irish kid that is like naming a Jewish kid "Kapo."

"Who knows why Seonín of all names became associated with a stereotype?"

There is no mystery. Semantically it means 'Little John', as in 'Little John Bull' , aka little enlgish man. /dz'/ was replaced by /s'/ and in perhaps in dialects which would not nativly allow /a:/ and /s'/ to be too close and the nearest was 'seo'

There is no mystery as the term was coined to actually comvay something

quote:

What would anybody think of a German who introduced himself as Kraut Heckmann? Don't tell me you wouldn't find the moniker unfortunate to say the least.

Forgive my ignorance, but what's the big deal with Kraut Heckmann?

I don't see why everyone's reading into this so much.

Certain names are either spelled the same or pronounced the same as words in a particular language. If you have the priviledge of choosing your own name, you may like to choose one which isn't the same as any other word, e.g. "Niamh", or you may choose one which is the same as another word, e.g. "Mark".

If you're choosing one which is the same as another word, you may want to consider the meaning of the other word. Then again, you may just throw caution to the wind and stick with a name which might have a questionable meaning as another word, e.g. Dick, Gay.

Some people don't mind being called "Dick". Others insist that they be called "Richard" instead.

Call yourself Seonín or Seánaín or whatever it is if you like...

(My own personal opinion is that I'd probably shy away from being called "Dick".)

Here are some examples of the use of Seáinín being used in Ó Siadhail's Book Learning Irish:

Chapter 7: Tá asal ag Seáinín, mac Mháirtin, agus ar ndóigh,.....

Chapter 16: 'Tá a fhios 'am go bhfuil posta maith 'adsa ansin, a Sheáinín,' a deir Máirtín,.....

Chapter 23: Tá mé réasúnta,' a deir Seáinín,.....

Chapter 30: 'Seán Ó Flaithearta. Seáinín Thomáis a thugtar orm.....

It appears from the list above, that Ó Siadhail doesn't see the same pejorative nature in the name Seáinín that some might claim. Also, a simple Google search yeilds thousands of entries for Seáinín. Although I don't have the time to sift through all of the entries, based on a quick scan I didn't see any pejorative instances, but did notice that the name is used for both men and women.

Here are some examples of the use of Seáinín being used in Ó Siadhail's Book Learning Irish:

Chapter 7: Tá asal ag Seáinín, mac Mháirtin, agus ar ndóigh,.....

Chapter 16: 'Tá a fhios 'am go bhfuil posta maith 'adsa ansin, a Sheáinín,' a deir Máirtín,.....

Chapter 23: Tá mé réasúnta,' a deir Seáinín,.....

Chapter 30: 'Seán Ó Flaithearta. Seáinín Thomáis a thugtar orm.....

It appears from the list above, that Ó Siadhail doesn't see the same pejorative nature in the name Seáinín that some might claim. Also, a simple Google search yeilds thousands of entries for Seáinín. Although I don't have the time to sift through all of the entries, based on a quick scan I didn't see any pejorative instances, but did notice that the name is used for both men and women.

Whoops, looks like I accidently posted twice. Sorry about that.

The "pejorative" name was Seoinín not Seáinín.

"Forgive my ignorance, but what's the big deal with Kraut Heckmann?"

"Kraut" is a derogatory word for "German," kind of like calling a Frenchman a "Frog." Perhaps we're separated by a common language here. :)