Comments for the name Cailin

My name is Cailin. It is actually not a name, but a word. It is the word "girl" in Gaelic and is pronounced "Colleen". For example "cailin rua" is the "red-haired girl" and "cailin dubh" is the "dark-haired girl". There is actually an accent over the second 'i' (called a "fada" in Irish.) [noted -ed]

This can also mean 'country girl'.

Um, it does NOT mean "country girl." That is inaccurate.

The word for "boy" is "buachaill" (pronounced "BOO-a-khuly" (the "ly" being the sound used in "million" by those who do not pronounce it "mill-yun")). For some reason, I've never heard of any men with this name.

I know it sounds weird but I've never seen Colleen spelt like this and pronounced that way. I only know one little girl and she pronounces it CAL-yeen (I don't like that). I think Colleen sounds much better.

I know of one girl with this name and she pronounces it Kay-lyn.

I love this name! I noticed on the ratings thing that 22% of people thought this should be a boy's name. Why would you give a boy a name that means 'girl'?

The name is pronounced like Colleen. It's my Mum's name and she hates it when Americans pronounce it Cay-lin.

I know Gaelic and it's easy for me to say that this is not a name. Ironically, "cailín" is actually masculine (despite its meaning) because of the "-ín" suffix. Why this is, I don't know.

I despise all the mangling of this pretty name into "Kaylyn", "Caelin", and the like (there's more lovely names that are befouled with these dreadful spellings and ghastly pronunciations in pitiful efforts to be "unique", but that's another story); there really should be some Respect For Language/Names courses for these people.

Really, the *correct* pronunciation is "caw-leen". I've never heard anyone with this name. It's just a word to me. It would be weird for me to meet someone with the name Cailin or Buachaill as they are words to me.

"Caw-leen" is not the correct pronunciation. It is the long a (á) that is pronounced "aw." Cailín has the short a (pronounced "ah.") The word may be accented on either the first or the second syllable depending on dialect. (Either "KAH-leen or "kah-LEEN.")

A very beatiful name! It shouldn't be a variant of Kaylyn though. I also love the pronunciation KAH-leen better than KAY-lin.

This is my name and I think that it is a very pretty name. I like it pronounced cay-lin. The only thing I don't like is all the mispronunciations like "caitlyn, colin, or caylee." I actually had someone argue with me about the pronunciation of my name. I said "my name is Cailin" and they said "hi Caitlyn" and I said "no it's Cailin" and they contradicted me and said "no it's Caitlyn!" Can you believe some people?

This name is just weird. Aren't you basically naming your child "girl" in Irish? Plus it's also a dumb spelling of the monstrosity Kaylyn. Colleen sounds better, but I don't like that name either!

My daughter's name is Cailin. I think it's a really pretty name. A lot of people call her Caitlin, but I like it more because Caitlin is so common.

I named my daughter Cailin (born 1998) for its meaning in Gaelic, as my husband put it... you wanted a girl, and you got a girl, let's name her Cailin as it means girl. We pronounce it as Cay-l_n to alleviate the confusion for those that are not familiar with the Gaelic pronunciation. I love to hear her name (in Gaelic) spoken in the brogue of our Irish friends. It's the 17th here today in Australia... So Beannachta na Feile Padraig oraibh! (I hope I got it right).

I'm a "Colleen" born in Massachusetts. I was given the name as an Americanized variant of the Irish "Cailin." My Irish family members always pronounced it more like the Irish way (kah-LEEN); however, most people I interact with pronounce it kol-LEEN. The name is fairly common in the US but never used in Ireland, as I understand things.