Irish Translation Forum

Hi,
I have been searching for the meaning of the name Sorcha because that is my name :lol: and because I pronounce my name Sor-sha (which is obviously anglized which i don't really like in most cases but I love the way i pronounce my name because i was born in England and always have had a different accent like a mix of English and Irish and I love that my name shows that too :D) and people tell me when they are trying to tell me the meaning of my name that Saoirse is the irish of Sorcha so my name means freedom. The names Saoirse and Sorcha are unrelated! :roll: the Irish ofSorcha is Sorcha pronounced Sor-a-ca! So when i looked up the dictionary it told me bright; bright cheerful but on the internet i've found bright, light, bright as in intelligent and clear!! Can anybody settle this once and for all so i can have an answer when people ask me my name?
Thanks,
sorcha

When someone asks your name say Sorcha. Sor uh cuh is how it s/b pronounced. How did your parents who gave it to you pronounce it? No matter what meaning it might have, that's your name. It is not the same as Saoirse. Some people use it for Sarah but that's not really accurate. Don't know where the meanings you got came from since neither Saoirse nor Sarah mean bright, cheerful, etc,

Beagle wrote:Don't know where the meanings you got came from since neither Saoirse nor Sarah mean bright, cheerful, etc,

Neither Saoirse nor Sarah are relevant since they are not the OP's name.

I thought this would be difficult since meanings of names are sometimes very obscure and come from words long gone from the language. I've never heard sorcha used as a normal word but to my surprise it's in the modern dictionary as a noun meaning brightness/light and as an adjective meaning bright/luminous/cheerful.

Your pronounciation Sor-a-ca is near the mark (I'd say Surr-a-c(h)a and in other places they might say Surr-a-ha).

I didn't give them any credance but since the OP mentioned that some people said her name meant Saoirse, I said it didn't and since some say Sara is Sorcha in Irish, I also said it wasn't. I was surprised to find sorcha in the dictionary since I have never seen itused and I found it inFGB so it's not that much a newbie

there are a lot of antonyms in irish based on s---/d----
so dorcha/sorcha is not a big surprise
these are very common in irish
saor/daor
saibhir/daibhir
sona/dona
just a few examples
would be interesting to make a list or better to see if someone has already done it.

Thanks for your help! I'm just going to say bright because I'm happy with bright light, bright intelligent or bright cheerful as they are all nice names!

Here's a sound file for the Irish language pronunciation:

http://www.awyr.com/ayrish/saewndfaylz/Sorcha.mp3

Sorcha
SOR-uh-khuh
/sorəxə/

Broad r is like the Scottish English r (strangely enough, NOT at all like the Irish English r).

The broad ch /x/ (kh in my phonics) is like the ch in loch /lox/ (lokh), never like a k sound. It may help to think of a very breathy h pronounced deep in the throat.

A helping vowel arises between the r and the ch, giving the word an extra syllable.

My guess is that people told her that "Sorcha" was equivalent to "Saoirse" because of the mispronunciation of "Sorcha."

"SOR-shuh" isn't just "Anglicized"...it's just plain wrong. Not surprising that an Irish speaker, hearing that, would assume that "Saoirse" was meant.

Redwolf

This is what Frank McCourt says about the name Sorcha:

"From sorcha meaning "bright, radiant, light." Popular in the Middle Ages, the name has become popular again in recent years partly due to the success of the Irish actress Sorcha Cusack in Britain. Incidentally, her actor sisters are named Sinead and Niamh."

You can hear him pronounce it here:

http://www.babynamesofireland.com/pages ... s-n-z.html

ruamac wrote:This is what Frank McCourt says about the name Sorcha:

"From sorcha meaning "bright, radiant, light." Popular in the Middle Ages, the name has become popular again in recent years partly due to the success of the Irish actress Sorcha Cusack in Britain. Incidentally, her actor sisters are named Sinead and Niamh."

You can hear him pronounce it here:

http://www.babynamesofireland.com/pages ... s-n-z.html

This thread is more than a year old. I'm locking it, per forum policy, to keep it from being resurrected again.

Redwolf