I saw a few of these types of names on another forum:
O'Connor
O'Callaghan
O'Ryan
Have you heard of other O apostrophe names? Is it specifically Irish? What do you think of them?
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As far as I know, O' names are always Irish? I usually don't mind last names as first names, but in this case it just feels a little weird? There are so many great Irish first names out there, too.
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They're definitely Irish. They're last names to me... I wouldn't use one as a first name.
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O' means of...like son of. So I think it'd be exceptionally odd to use an O name as a first name.
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Not a fan - but I've never been drawn to Irish/Celtic names
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Ice Cube's name is O'Shea!
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There's a rise in using last names a firsts recently.
Even things like Jackson, Emerson etc all imply -son of ______. -
I've only heard of them as last names, and honestly only care for them as last names. They don't translate well to a first name, and making the kid have to spell out his name forever just seems mean.
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I've never seen O- as a first name, just as an (Irish) last name. Not my cup of tea for a first name!
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I agree they're more last names than first names.
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I've never heard of anyone with an O' first name. I think as a general rule, apostrophes don't belong in first names, haha (though maybe there's an instance I'm not thinking of?)
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Have never heard of this! I like Irish names, see the appeal of "son" names like Emmerson, Anderson, etc, so maybe this could happen. ?!? Surnames are huge now, so I guess why not if it's your cup of tea. Not a trend I would use though.
@shutterbug I know there are some names with apostrophes but I don't disagree with your sentiment.
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I didn't think of it as a first name option... interesting. I personally wouldn't do it, but I wouldn't do a lot of things that others do
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I think it would be pretty confusing from like a scantron / resume standpoint to have an apostrophe like that in the first name.... I work with a large database of peoples names and it is hard to find if people are coded as oconnor or o'connor as last names already!
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I haven't but I am also not a fan. I would prefer an Irish name instead. Plus, the kid would have to spend a lot of time explaining that their first name wasn't their last and their last wasn't their first.
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I went to high school with an Orion, but that's after the constellation, not Irish.
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I think the apostrophe would be really confusing in a first name. Like pp already said, it can even be confusing in a last name.
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I think last names are on the rise is meant for last names that sound like first names. O with an apostrophe just seems really bizarre. But, whatever floats your boat!
I am Irish and my maiden name is an O' name. I would be pretty perplexed to see someone using it as their first.
To keep my maiden name, we dropped the O and the rest is L's middle name.
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I would not saddle my kid with an apostrophe in his first name.
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Honestly? I think punctuation marks have no place in a first name. Hyphens I can live with (ie Mary-Anne) but anything beyond that is a bit too out there in my opinion and is bound to lead to lots of confusion as the child grows up.
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@Ree723: From experience, it is a pain in the ass to have one in a last name, let alone in a first name. Can't even imagine that circus!
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I know a girl named O'Malley. I LOVE it, but for legal/logistics/tests/work/etc., I wouldn't do it. I was an "McC---" before marriage, and even that little C big C was hard for people to understand.
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Irish names are my jam. Can't get enough of them. But I agree with the others that I don't like the O'. From your list, I would like the names Connor, Callaghan, and Ryan.
A good friend of mine's maiden name was an O' name. She dropped the O' and gave the name to her son. So instead of O'Shea, she named him Shea. Not his actual name but the example works.
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Nope. Nope nope.
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I actually know a person with a teenaged-son named O'Shea. Honestly? Not a huge fan of first names that use punctuation.
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@stiletto_mom: I'm not opposed to last names as first names (I have an Emerson which means Son of Emery) but I think the logistics of having to spell out the apostrophe would get really old and hard for a little kid, I just pictures my 5 year old niece trying to say it, and I think it would upset her when people didn't "get it." I do love the three names without the O' in front of it.
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Not feeling the O'
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I've only heard of O' for Irish last names.
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I had an O last name as my maiden name and got comments about my Irish name often enough that I was kind of glad to change it! I would not use it as a first name but I know Irish names are really popular so I'm not too surprised.
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I have an O' last name and it would be super annoying as a first name. I would say 75% of the time people out the letter after the apostrophe as a lowercase and it drives me crazy!!!
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29 comments