Olympic Competitor Name
November 18, 2006 6:39 PM Subscribe
In the 2002 Winter Olympics, there was a female figure skater or ice dancer with a Celtic/Irish name. Her name had a traditional spelling and the announcers were constantly stumbling over the pronunciation.
Can the Hive help me remember what her name is?
(It might have been the 1998 games, but I'm really thinking it was 2002.)
Can the Hive help me remember what her name is?
(It might have been the 1998 games, but I'm really thinking it was 2002.)
Laetitia Hubert? I dunno if it's Gaelic, but it's Irish. (She's French.)
posted by rokusan at 7:35 PM on November 18, 2006
posted by rokusan at 7:35 PM on November 18, 2006
Best answer: Here's a chart of the Final standings in figure skating 2002. None of those names look right to me, but maybe they will to you?
Some possibilities:
Beata Handra, a US pairs skater?
Jacinthe LaRiviere, a Canadian pairs skater?
Tanith Belbin, a 2006 US pairs skater?
Siobhan (sha-bonn) is a common Irish name that Americans have a hard time pronouncing - could that be it?
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:58 PM on November 18, 2006
Some possibilities:
Beata Handra, a US pairs skater?
Jacinthe LaRiviere, a Canadian pairs skater?
Tanith Belbin, a 2006 US pairs skater?
Siobhan (sha-bonn) is a common Irish name that Americans have a hard time pronouncing - could that be it?
posted by LobsterMitten at 8:58 PM on November 18, 2006
By the way, how did I miss Michael Flatley's nuptials ... to a woman??!!
posted by rob511 at 9:17 PM on November 18, 2006
posted by rob511 at 9:17 PM on November 18, 2006
I think Siobhan is (shih-Vawn) - LanguageHat, please help with the proper way to note pronounciation!
My own Gaelic name is pronounced leas-leah.
posted by Liosliath at 9:49 PM on November 18, 2006
My own Gaelic name is pronounced leas-leah.
posted by Liosliath at 9:49 PM on November 18, 2006
Some Americans with the name Siobhan have a semi-Americanized pronunciation as in LobsterMitten's example. Others get it right. ;)
I don't see any Irish/Celtic names (at least, notably so and hard to pronounce) in either the 2002 or 1998 games. Are you sure it was the Olympics?
(Hubert isn't a Celtic name in origin, though I don't doubt that there are Irish people that bear that surname. It comes from a Germanic name, originally. As do quite a few French names. Oddly, most of the names people have suggested here are French.)
Could it have been US Nationals, not the Olympics? Perhaps Ann Patrice McDonough (who is of Korean ancestry, but has a surname that is Irish, though I don't recall how it was pronounced)?
posted by litlnemo at 12:41 AM on November 19, 2006
I don't see any Irish/Celtic names (at least, notably so and hard to pronounce) in either the 2002 or 1998 games. Are you sure it was the Olympics?
(Hubert isn't a Celtic name in origin, though I don't doubt that there are Irish people that bear that surname. It comes from a Germanic name, originally. As do quite a few French names. Oddly, most of the names people have suggested here are French.)
Could it have been US Nationals, not the Olympics? Perhaps Ann Patrice McDonough (who is of Korean ancestry, but has a surname that is Irish, though I don't recall how it was pronounced)?
posted by litlnemo at 12:41 AM on November 19, 2006
Litlnemo, I didn't suggest that Hubert was Irish. I'm suggesting that Laetitia might be.
I thought it was obvious from context. Maybe not. :)
posted by rokusan at 3:59 AM on November 19, 2006
I thought it was obvious from context. Maybe not. :)
posted by rokusan at 3:59 AM on November 19, 2006
Response by poster: Now I'm certain it was the 2002 Olympics. We had just moved into our new house the spring prior & I wrote her name on one of the moving boxes we were attacking. :-)
None of the names so far ring a bell, but the lists that I searched in vain for are certainly helpful!
Off to search through them again.
posted by TauLepton at 5:59 AM on November 19, 2006
None of the names so far ring a bell, but the lists that I searched in vain for are certainly helpful!
Off to search through them again.
posted by TauLepton at 5:59 AM on November 19, 2006
I looked on all of these lists too and see no irish names there, except maybe Bourne but that's not hard to pronounce. Laetitia certainly isn't considered an Irish name.
(Siobhan is pronounced Shi-Vawn with a sort of dragged out aw sound at home, but like Caitlin might have become a different animal in the US?)
posted by jamesonandwater at 12:50 PM on November 19, 2006
(Siobhan is pronounced Shi-Vawn with a sort of dragged out aw sound at home, but like Caitlin might have become a different animal in the US?)
posted by jamesonandwater at 12:50 PM on November 19, 2006
Could be that I've been mis-hearing Siobhan's middle sound as B when it's really being said V. Those sounds are easy to confuse. Shuh-vonn, sha-vonn, shi-vonn, all could represent the way I've heard it pronounced in the US. (But not shah-vonn, or shy-vonn.)
How's Caitlin pronounced in Ireland?
Also note that the surname doesn't have to be Irish; she could have an Irish mom and a Russian dad for all we know. Or just a name that sounds Irish but really isn't.
posted by LobsterMitten at 1:58 PM on November 19, 2006
How's Caitlin pronounced in Ireland?
Also note that the surname doesn't have to be Irish; she could have an Irish mom and a Russian dad for all we know. Or just a name that sounds Irish but really isn't.
posted by LobsterMitten at 1:58 PM on November 19, 2006
Any Caitlins I know of in Ireland are pronounced Kathleen, or Cait (Kawtch) for short. Beware those "bh"s as gaeilge - the sound is sort of a "v". A lot of "mh"s too. So any names like Aoibheann, Caoimhe, Ailbhe, Niamh are Ee-van, Cwee-va, Al-va, Nee-av. At home. I know they end up different over here.
And yeah, some of those Russian names could maybe sound Irish if the pronunciation was butchered?
posted by jamesonandwater at 2:06 PM on November 19, 2006
And yeah, some of those Russian names could maybe sound Irish if the pronunciation was butchered?
posted by jamesonandwater at 2:06 PM on November 19, 2006
Wow - I'm learning a lot more from this thread than OP is, sadly. :)
Let us know if you figure it out, Tau!
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:18 PM on November 19, 2006
Let us know if you figure it out, Tau!
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:18 PM on November 19, 2006
Ack, somehow I was assuming this was an Irish surname... I guess the question didn't state that, and it could be an Irish given name. Mea culpa. I don't see any given names that match the requirements in the 2002 and 1998 skater lists, though (or 1994, which I also checked).
posted by litlnemo at 2:24 PM on November 19, 2006
posted by litlnemo at 2:24 PM on November 19, 2006
rob511: From what I've heard from people who toured with him, Michael Flatley is very very straight.
posted by frecklefaerie at 8:02 AM on November 20, 2006
posted by frecklefaerie at 8:02 AM on November 20, 2006
Yes, it's Shi-vawn, never Shi-bonn! I do notice that people who have been introduced to me will suddenly start calling me "Shi-bonn" once they've seen my name spelled out. However, I've never met a Siobhan who preferred that pronunciation (I live in the US).
posted by Siobhan at 8:46 AM on November 20, 2006
posted by Siobhan at 8:46 AM on November 20, 2006
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by cerebus19 at 7:21 PM on November 18, 2006