Deirdre

原Deidre Hall is an American daytime drama actress ("Days of Our Lives"). She's a lovely woman and a good actress, but her fame has caused many in the U.S. to mispronounce the original name by dropping the first "r". Errol Flynn was a handsome film actor during the 1930s, '40s, and '50s ("Robin Hood", "Captain Blood", "Sea Hawk", etc.) who named a daughter Deirdre.

原Hello! As a 61-year-old Deirdre (deer-drah) living in the Chicago area, I am ambivalent about my name. If you are thinking of naming your daughter this, be advised that she will have "issues" with it all her life. Most negative association for me: when attendance was taken in school, I could tell the teacher was reading my name for the first time because she would frown while trying to pronounce it. I vowed to give my children names that did not cause frowning! Positive associations? Many! I love the history of the name. Many people tell me it's a beautiful name. Nicknames (pet names): Deir and Deiry.

原I'm a 47 year old Deirdre born and reared in New Hampshire, only 1/4 Irish, my surname (my dad's side.) I've grown to appreciate the history and uniqueness of my name... although as a pre-teen, I would have preferred Lisa. I think I even 'officially' changed it at the time! Glad I kept my real one, however. It is frustrating at times to hear my name butchered by mis-pronunciation! Especially here in New England where most people don't/can't pronounce their R's. So, no matter how often I repeat my name, Deirdre (Dear-dra), it rolls off someone else's tongue as Dee-dra- ugh! Hence, our nickname inevitably becomes Didi, Deedee or Dede. I do love the fact that so few girls have our name. It remains mysterious to many.

原I am half Scottish and half Irish. In Scotland (Deirdre is how it is spelt), the name sounds very soft, we pronounce it daredray, which sounds lovely. When I moved to England, they pronounced it Deedree, which I didn't like at all. It was considered old fashioned there, an old ladies name. But it remains popular in Scotland with no old fashioned stigma attached. DAREDRAY. I shortened my name to Dee in England as I hate the pronunciation here.

原My name is Deirdre. I love my name and almost all unusual names. My mother pronounced my name- Deardree. It makes me a little sad only a handful of women are named this beautiful name.

原My name is Deidree Tatu and I'm Malaysian. People always say to me that my name is unique and rare. Just imagine a girl named Deidree in Malaysia. All my friends had names that were common, like Nicole, Audrey, Lillian, Elsa, Charlene, Amanda, etc. My parents told me that they wanted to name me Natalie or Sonia, but one of my parents' friends said that they should name me Deidree (after her pen pal in Australia) or Debbie. My parents decided to name me Deidree because they had never heard the name before, and it sounded, yeah, different and unique. One of my friends called me Drae as my nickname.

原"Deirdre's Samba" is a famous song by Dutch-Swedish singer-songwriter Cornelis Wreesvijk (1937-1987). It's about a young, poor girl from a Rio favela.

原The name Deirdre was only given to 27 girls born in the US in 2015. It should be used more.

原I love this name! I kind of like that it sounds kind of mysterious and strange. This is a name I would use for a character in one of my stories.

原It's rather plain, but not the ugliest name out there. I don't really like the pronunciation of it though.

原Deirdre was the woman who seduced the marriage guidance counsellor in the second episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus.

原My name is Deirdre... I've always liked the name because it was very unusual in my neighborhood growing up. I pronounce it DEERDRA, although I've heard many derivatives I don't particularly like. (Dandra, Deerdree, Deedree) My father was born in Limerick and I enjoy having the name of a popular mythological, though tragic, Celtic figure to distinguish my heritage.

原I really like this name but I pronounce it Deer-Dree because I think it sounds better like that. I first saw this name in Lament by Maggie Stiefvater.

原I've been lumbered with this confusing name for 51 years, and here in Australia, even though this country was basically founded by the Irish, (as convicts!) yet hardly anyone can pronounce it properly. It annoys the hell out of me, and has turned me off liking my own name! Most Aussies pronounce it DEE-DREE which is hideous! Even the proper Irish pronunciation of DARE-DRA sounds far too much like the common name of Debra for my liking... DEER-DREE is just about bearable, even though it is the English pronunciation - and the Irish in me rebels against that! Oh, how I wish my parents had called me Siobhan instead - has a much nicer ring to it! I narrowly escaped being called Dearbhla (pronounced: Dervla - horrid name!)- so it could have been much worse!The only time I've ever felt pleased to be called Deirdre, is when I read that it was Oscar Wilde's favourite girl's name, and if he'd had a daughter he would have called her Deirdre Isola. As he was a man of great style and charm, that made me feel a bit better about it!People either love or hate this name - and it often makes me cringe when strangers mispronounce it. Luckily, I've been nicknamed Didge by everyone since I was a kid, and that has a tomboyish ring to it that suits me just fine!

原Both of my parents are from Dublin. They pronounce my name Derdrah. Here in the U.S. it is usually mutilated beyond recognition but I, and all the other Deirdres I grew up with pronounce it Deerdrah. In any case, if it's not your name and you have grown up hearing others make it impossible to understand, don't comment. It's bad enough having to hear it torn to pieces by people I come in contact with, having it mutilated and torn apart on a screen is really annoying!

原I have read most of the comments about the pronunciation of my name Deirdre. In my language (Afrikaans) my name is spelt Deirdré and pronounced Dea-dray (almost starting as if you would say Dear without saying the "r"... that's the first part and then second part like saying tray but with a D... And that's the only way I have heard it in all Afrikaans Deirdré's names.

原Deirdre's a great name; I say it like "Deerd-ruh." It's rare and somewhat mysterious-sounding.

原I really like this name. It's a little bit old fashioned (at least to me as an American, it might be more current in Ireland), but it has a nice sound, is classic, and the story it comes from is interesting, if sad. I pronounce it Deer-dra, but Der-dra is a nice pronunciation it too.

原I absolutely love the name Deirdre, it means "the sorrows" because according to an Irish legend a princess was born bearing that name and her father went to ask the druids to tell him his daughter's fate, they said she would bring great sorrow. It turns out that they were right, she fell in love with Naoise, a prince from another kingdom, and they were forbidden from seeing each other. Eventually Deirdre's father killed Naoise to keep him away from his daughter and Deirdre upon hearing of Naoise's death, died almost instantly of a broken heart; bringing great sorrow. I consider Deirdre and Naoise to be the Irish Romeo and Juliet.

原Dierdre (spelled ie instead of ei) Reimold is a model, and the sister of baseball player Nolan Reimold.

原Deirdre is Nancy Drew's rival in the new books.

原My name is Deirdre and I'm from Ireland - the home of this name. Here it is pronounced DEER-dra. If there is a fada on the first e (Déirdre) it is pronounced DARE-dra. The only time I've heard it pronounced DEER-dree is when referring to your one off Coronation Street and my English next door neighbour so I assume that's some English variant. I have never heard an Irish person pronounce it that way. It is a pretty popular name here and there's a lot of girls my age with that name. In fact I have three friends also called Deirdre. Three of us pronounce it DEER-dra and one DARE-dra. I love my name - much more character and history than the Jordans/Ashleighs/Chloes/Chardonnays of today!

原I was nearly named this by my parents, and am mostly glad I wasn't. It has that rough, old-lady sound to it, but then again it sounds kind of spunky. I'd definitely prefer it over their final choice.

原Most folks of Irish descent around here (New England, USA) prounounce it Dare-dra. People usually tell me they love the name - I do if it is pronounced correctly :-). Family in Ireland pronounce it Deerdree, but I prefer Dare-dra. Some people tell me it is French or German! The common nickname for Deirdre is Didi or Deedee, but I left that behind long ago. Enjoy your name however you want to pronounce it!

原Dreadful Deirdre. Thats what I think of when I hear or see this name. I think of old nannas knitting socks.

原In grade school, I knew a Hispanic girl with this name, but she pronounced her name deer-dray. (I don't think that the last 'e' of her name actually had an accent, but her family's, and her, natural accent influenced the pronunciation of her name.) I thought it was quite pretty--and for many years, whenever I saw the name, I thought it was always pronounced deer-dray. Then I watched the movie "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and there was a character near the end named Deirdre, who pronounced it deer-dree. I figured that was just how it was said in England. And then I heard my friend (who is *very* Irish, she even has family there) call her cat deer-druh, and I was like, "What?" I hadn't even known the name had Irish origins, or that that was the original pronunciation. :-)Over time, the pronunciation deer-druh became much more natural, and I think it's quite pretty. I'm still not a fan of deer-dree. But. Deer-dray, the Hispanic pronunciation, is still my favorite. And even though I'm not Hispanic, if I were to ever use the name Deirdre on a daughter, I would probably say deer-dray. Who knows, I might even stick an accent on the last 'e' to make it Deirdré, and that way there would be no confusion as to how to say her name. :-)

原My name is Deirdre. It is a beautiful and unique name. I would pronounce it DE-AIR-DRA or DEAR-DRA. My mom first heard the name by the actor ERROL FLYNN who named his daughter, Deirdre. I have heard that in addition to it meaning sorrow. I heard that it also means "raging". What ever the meaning the women who first bore the name was stunning and beautiful. I would hate to have been named after someone who was ugly inside or out!

原My name's Deirdre, and I'm half-Irish living in Ireland for most of my life. It is speculated that the name means "sorrow", but only because it's associated with the Legend. No one actually knows the true meaning of it. I love my name because it is a pure Celtic name. Although most people misspell it. :)

原Deirdre Mayfair is an important character (not main, just important) character in 'The Witching Hour' by Anne Rice.

原I know a wonderful woman with this name. (By the way, she pronounces it DEER-dra.) It's a pretty, classic name.

原This has to be the worst girl's name out there. First of all, the meaning, "to cause sorrow and pain" is horrible. How would you like your name to mean that? Secondly, it's bland, boring, and sounds absolutely terrible when pronounced.

原Yuck. When I was little, I never knew how to pronounce this name, so I asked my mother, and she said she didn't know either. She said, "Maybe derriere?" And you have to admit, it does look fighteningly similar.

原A classy name. It brings to mind an elegant, soft-spoken, yet strong woman of virtuous character.

原I can't see why anyone would consider this name pretentious. It's really rather plain and boring. Kind of dowdy. It's not extravagant in any way.

原It sounds sad and emotional as a given name. You need something uplifting like Jo or Barbara.

原The name is plain ugly, no matter how you pronounce it. As someone who loves the name Phaedra, I probably shouldn't call the name flat out pretentious, but I can't figure out what else could lead to people using this name than some sort of pretentiousness.

原Derdriu is a very old spelling on the name Deirdre.

原My father, who was born and raised in Tipperary, pronounces it Deerdree but he is very much in the minority in Ireland. That's actually one of the reasons why I'm not called it (at least, according to my mother)

原Deirdre means "she who causes sorrow and pain" in Gaelic.

原If you were writing a children's story and had to use this name, tell me you would use it for the main character and not the snotty rich girl. That's just my opinion though, and the pronunciation DER-DRE makes it even worse. I much prefer DEER-DRE.

原This name is okay I guess, but it has a horrible pronunciation.

原Deer-dree in my experience is the anglicised pronunciation. It is most definitely not meant to be pronounced Deer-dree and nothing annoys me more. Deer-dra is how I usually hear it pronounced.

原I've only heard it pronounced DEER-dree.For some reason I have always a fondness for this name. I just really really like it.

原I don't like the spelling or pronunciation of this name at all. I like the name Deidra better. It's easier to pronounce and sounds more feminine to me.

原Well, I've only heard it pronounced 'Deer-dree.' Ah well, they all sound awful.

原Really sorry to all people who have this name but I don't like it, I'm not sure why.

原It most likely does NOT mean sorrowful. This meaning is a conotation attached to it by the story. The name is very, very old and the origin is really quite unknown.

原To start with, the name Deirdre can be pronounced in different ways, it can be DEER-dra or De-a-dra or how ever you pronounce it, it all depends on the person who has the name, and also Deirdre means "sorrowful" not anything else.

原The original pronunciation would be closer to "DER-dra", which I prefer; "DEER-dree", "DEED-ra", and "DEER-dra" throws it away.Seeing that on slender vowels ("e" and "i"), the "d" takes on the sound of the English "j" (in Scots Gaelic and in some Irish dialects), it could even be pronouned "JER-jra" or thereabouts.

原I've NEVER heard it to be pronounced "DEER-dree" (makes me think of one of a Christmas elf or stereotypical dwarf), always "DER-dre" (which I personally prefer) or "DEER-dre". I also have always thought the name itself to mean "sorrows", or "lady of sorrows." Regardless, it's one of my favorite names, and a beautiful sounding one as well (as long as it isn't "DEER-dree").

原It always makes me think of Andrew's girlfriend from 'I Hate Hamlet' (a book).

原Means "sorrow" or "dear little wanderer".

原Pronounced DE-a-Dra.

原It's pronounced "DEER-dra" and is a word for "woman" or "sorrow", from Irish mythology.

原Deirdre is also known as 'Deirdre Of The Sorrows'.

原I was able to locate a professor at a Valdosta State University who speaks Gaelic fluently and has studied the orgin of Gaelic words for over 10 years. According to her and her academic contacts and sources, the meaning of the name is no mystery at all. It means Mysterious and Sorrowful. I also cross-checked the name in a number of origin books on the subject and found them to be correct.