Ciaran Hinds' Name

Popular Irish actor Ciarán Hinds has earned many accolades and accumulated many fans from brief appearances on television series to starring roles in stage productions and several popular movies. His unusual-looking name has many people wondering about its origins and proper pronunciation.

The name Ciarán

The name "Ciarán" is derived from the Irish Gaelic word "ciar," meaning "black" or "dark." When it comes to name meanings, "Ciarán" is generally defined as "the small dark one." The name "Ciarán," as well as several other spellings (some of them more phonetically friendly for non-Gaelic speakers) has been used for Irish boys since the Middle Ages and has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity since the second quarter of the 20th century (Ciarán Hinds was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1953.)

Pronouncing the name Ciarán

The "c" in the name Ciarán is a hard letter C, more like a K. The "ia" is pronounced more like a hard "e" sound. The name is pronounced a bit like "KEER-uhn."

Mispronunciations

Ciarán Hinds is certainly familiar with the audience's inability to pronounce his first name. In a 1999 interview, Ciarán Hinds remarked on the wide range of incorrect pronunciations of his own name that he had encountered, remembering that "people say Karen or Chair-un or Car-un."

Ciarán Hinds' first name may look like a mouthful, but once you know how to pronounce it – more like "KEER-uhn," with a hard "K" sound for the first letter – you can confidently talk about this actor and his work.