How would you pronounce Catriona?
By NJ Chicaa
@NJChicaa (123232)
United States
May 11, 2020 2:59pm CST
Catriona Balfe is the lead actress in Outlander. As many of you know I am a HUGE fan of the show. She is Irish and I had never seen a name like that before.
I always thought it was pronounced Cat-tree-oh-na. I thought that was a beautiful and unique name. I was watching the show on my laptop before and then wound up laying down with the cats and falling asleep for a little while. When I woke up the post-episode discussion with the writers/directors was playing from one of the shows. They spoke of the actress. Her name?
Katrina. 
Oh well. It was nice while it lasted.
Oh well. It was nice while it lasted.5 people like this
7 responses
@owlwings (43902)
• Cambridge, England
11 May 20
It's one of the versions (Scottish Gaelic) of 'Catherine' and it should be pronounced more like 'kat-REEN-a'. Both Scots and Irish Gaelic have some very weird spellings to the English eye. I can only assume that when the monk or monks who first wrote it down heard it, the language sounded rather different from the way it sounds today though there are some conventions, like 'si' for the sound we write as 'sh' and 'bh' for the sound we use 'v' for now ('v' didn't really exist as a separate letter in Latin: it was an alternative way of writing 'u'). The Irish name 'Siobhan', for example, is pronounced 'Shi-VAWN' (to rhyme with 'dawn') - there's that 'io' combination again, pronounced as 'i' or 'ee'!
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109845)
• Los Angeles, California
11 May 20
I looked her up. The only thing I have seen her in is Escape Plan with Stallone and Schwarzenegger. A small part. I don't recall her. She was in Ford Vs Ferrari.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (191831)
• United States
11 May 20
How unusual. I would have pronounced it as you did.
1 person likes this
@aureategloom (11043)
• Bosnia And Herzegovina
11 May 20
maybe they put O accidentally
1 person likes this
@paigea (36102)
• Canada
11 May 20
I would have pronounced it like you.
Another Irish name is Siobhán pronounced Shivawn. I had to hear it so many times before I got it.
When we were in a bookstore in Nova Scotia there was a poster that said, "How do you spell a Gaelic name? Throw a bunch of letters together and pronounce them however you like
I think they were talking about Scottish names, but applies.
I think they were talking about Scottish names, but applies.