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Oisín
I was just glancing through my PNL and noticed that Oisín (Oisin) has the lowest rating at a meager 17%. I've always thought of it as a sweet, charming name with a meaning that brings to mind Bambi-esque imagery. I can't help but love a name I visualise as this: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.pawnation.com/media/2009/06/deer-240.jpg.How do you feel about Oisín? Is there anything I'm missing that makes it unlikeable? Do you prefer the variants Osheen and Ossian? Thanks!
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Well, I like the name Oisín, but I'd be so hesitant to use it on a person because I fear nobody would pronounce it right.
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I prefer Ossian because it seems a bit more straightforward in proununciation, makes me think of fossils, and also I really like the whole ancient-poet-hoax backstory. Oisin is cute but would get butchered by most English speakers ("wee-sin?" "oy-zin?").Osheen is neat and has a really different international flair to it (it sort of reminds me of east Indian names). O'Sheen would be cool too, though I know that totally destroys the actual relationship to the name Oisin and I'm sure is a totally made-up name (I'm still waiting for the Mac-phase to die out and the O'Names to take over, they have all the adorable ruffian qualities and sparkle that the McNames are rapidly losing)
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I love Oisin as well. It seems so strong, and yet delicate at the same time. I feel it's very underused in America. Which is to bad because I'd take it over Ryan, Brian, or Conor any day. I could never bring myself to change the spelling, Osheen just looks unnatural and changes the entire feel from Celtic to last name. Ossian looks nice, but I wouldn't think to pronounce it OH-sheen. ETA:
I just read through the other comments about pronunciation. I knew an Oisin growing up, and yes he was originally from Ireland, but when he moved to the states he didn't have as many problems as one would think. There were teachers who would call him OY-shin, but he only would ever have to correct them once. That may be partially because people are used to certain Celtic names here, but I also think it isn't as hard to say or understand as people are making it. Or maybe I am just used to it (I know a Roisin too, :/ )

This message was edited 12/8/2010, 6:51 AM

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lulz, aside from the fact that it's completely unpronounceable to most english speakers?I like it too, but that's only because I know someone with it as his middle name, and the combo is cool (Eoghan Oisin, but he says Eoghan Owen). It's a cool sound, but I'd never arrive at it without being coached, and I still get irked when I have to be coached through a name. I find it arrogant of the namers. I do prefer Osheen, I think.
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Good point. I guess being a lifelong name nerd has desensitised me to a lot of non-English pronunciations, cause I honestly never thought of it as unpronounceable. Eoghan Oisin is a neat combo.
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It's lovely.Too bad most people (unless they're straight up Irish) won't be able to pronounce it properly.
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I love Oisín and always have. It's a super lovely, world class name, and the deer imagery does not hurt one bit. Osheen looks more like a contraction of a last name like O'Sheen, and Ossian seems like it would be pronounced OSH-un. I wouldn't want to bother having a name spelled as unintuitively (in the United States) as Oisín, though--if the US is where you are.
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I love Oisin! I actually have a similar visual to yours. :D
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