Irish Translation Forum

My name is Nicola (female) and I was wondering how to say this in Irish?

The same Nicola

I found a wesite that said there was no translation for 'Nicola', but there was for 'Nicholas' (Nioclás) - and that this could be feminised by addng 'ín', to form 'Nioiclín'. Is this not the case?

I found a wesite that said there was no translation for 'Nicola', but there was for 'Nicholas' (Nioclás) - and that this could be feminised by addng 'ín', to form 'Nioiclín'. Is this not the case?

The suffix -ín creates a diminutive in Irish, so if Nioiclín exists (I've never heard it, but who knows- Nioclasín would seem more logical, though), it would mean "little Nicholas" or perhaps "Nicky". It would still not be a female name, or an equivalent for Nicola.

Keep in mind that Nioclás is just a version of Nicholas using Irish phonetic spelling, presumably created at some point so the story of St. Nicholas could be told in Irish. It's not a translation, so it has no meaning in Irish, and a female equivalent would not have been needed.

Foreign names are still being borrowed in Ireland, of course, though usually they would not be gaelicized, since it seems somewhat pointless to give your child an Italian name and then try to make it Irish. It would not be surprising if there were a Nicola or two in Ireland by now, and if one of them wanted to gaelicize her name after all, she might go for Niocla, by analogy to Nioclás, but again I don't see the point. It is certainly not a traditional Gaelic form in any way.

Sometimes the diminutive -ín is used to "feminise" a name. E.g., Micheáilín. But I've never heard Nioclín or anything like it.

I've never heard "Nioclín" either. (it would be pronounced similar to nick-leen)
But some Irish names can be made feminine by adding "ín". The commonest that I can think of is Gearóid/Gearóidín (Gearald / Geraldine). If you like it go for it.

Hi, its okay to say , Pádraigín for Patricia, so I really can not for the life of me see why we can not use Niocloín.
Teanga beo. A living language should be able to accommodate this surely.
Christy.

Yeah my grandmothers middle name is Pádraigín, but seeing is the Irish male name was simply a Phonetic spelling, why take that phonetic spelling and make it feminine? WHy not just go the the source and phonetically spell Nicola, would that be Nicólá? just a suggestion of we're making up names, y'all.

Name nerds gives the following as possible translations:

Nicole, Nicola
Nicole and Nicola are feminine forms of Nicholas. Nicholas in Irish is Nicolás, or Nioclás. To make them feminine, you could add ín-- Nicoilín (NIK o leen) or Nioiclín (NIK leen).

I much prefer Nicoilín.... Nioiclín sounds like a pain releif drug