Hi,

Facebook has a feature where you can list the given names associated with a particular family name:
https://www.facebook.com/family/
provided the user's privacy settings allow this.

I took a few hundred Irish surnames starting with "Ó " and recorded the frequency of the given names. The results are listed below with the most common names at the top.

A few girls names have sneaked themselves into the list.

What's the story with the name "Aodán"? I've seen it referred to as a misspelling of Aodhán here:
http://www.daltai.com/discus/messages/1 ... 1285143150
but its very, very common.

What's the name Murt?

Seán
Ciarán
Mícheál
Tomás
Cathal
Pól
Micheál
Pádraig
Colm
Liam
Cian
Gearóid
Diarmuid
Cormac
Máirtín
Séamus
Brian
Eoin
Niall
Caoimhín
Oisín
Stiofán
Muiris
Daithí
Darren
Barra
Aodán
Damien
Tadhg
Éamonn
Seosamh
Peadar
Éanna
Aoife
Ruairí
Eoghan
Dónall
Aindriú
Seamus
Conall
Fiachra
Rónán
Sean
Dáithí
Críostóir
Diarmaid
Dónal
Neil
Darragh
Eóin
Déaglán
Andrew
Mark
Conchúr
Aodh
James
Donnchadh
Ciaran
Criostóir
Lorcán
Marcas
Gearoid
Ian
Cionnaith
John
Stíofán
Tim
Pádraic
Dylan
Deaglán
Ryan
Malachy
Ruaidhrí
Jonathan
Murt
Kevin
Philip
Domhnall
Derek
Aodhán
Séan
Fergal
Pòl
Pilib
Fionn
Callum
Alan
Dan
Feargal
Breandan
Ráichéal
Mary
Proinsias
Deirdre
Breandán
Daniel
Odhrán
Paul
Conchúir
Maitiú
Naoise
Dara
Marcus
Tommie
Stephen
Caomhán
Maitiu
Réamonn
Seánie
Gavin
Aonghus
Deasún

I think some people have gone to the spelling "Aodán" to reflect the way the name is often pronounced (for some reason, in some areas, the broad "dh" has gotten itself changed to a broad "d" pronunciation). I know a couple of "Aodháns," and they pronounce their name as if it were spelled "Aodán."

It may also reflect a misunderstanding of the name written the old way, with the dot over the "d" instead "dh."

Redwolf

The reason was native English speakers getting a native name wrong and/or preferring the newly coined word as it suited English phonotactics better.

There is no way the broad dh could 'change to a broad d' as there was no dh, gh or d there in the first place around a hundred years ago (so they wouldn't/couldn't just change a vowel to a consonant) and nearly all native speakers were not literate in Irish anyway

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I wouldn't say that. I've seen the name "Egan" in English (pronounced EE-gahn), which is a more likely Anglicization of "Aodhán," and I do know native speakers who pronounce "Aodhán" as if it were spelled "Aodan." The English name "Aiden" is likely a mispronunciation of the latter, but it doesn't explain the spelling "Aodán."

Redwolf

I would say a few things to that -MagAodháin and MacAodhagáin might have been mixed up and 'Egan' may have anglicised early when the gh was still pronounced and written by English or Norman scribes as 'g'

You would expect 'Aodhán' to go thru changes like this:
aodhán
aoghán
aoidhián
í/éidhián
Íán/éán

A number of 'Irish' names like Emer, Aiden, Siobhan are recorded in the 19th century as if Ébhir, Íán and Siúán so while there is variance to be expected, the addition of a 'd' out of nowhere is more likely to be down to error on the part of people in a different language. After all, are there many other similar examples?

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__̴ı̴̴̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡ ̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡͡͡ ̲▫̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ̲̲͡▫̲̲͡͡ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡ ̡͌l̡̡̡̡.___