Boy's name
Oisín
“uh-SHEEN (also OSH-een)”
IPA: /əˈʃiːnʲ/
from os, 'deer' — 'little deer, fawn'
Why it is said that way
The s before an í is sh: USH-een in Ireland, often o-SHEEN abroad. It means little deer.
- s before e or i → sh
- á é í ó ú (the fada) → a long vowel — and never optional
The story behind the name
Son of Fionn and of Sadhbh — the woman who had been a deer, which is why he is 'little fawn'. He followed Niamh to Tír na nÓg, returned three centuries later, and lived just long enough to tell St Patrick the tales of the Fianna. James Macpherson's 18th-century 'Ossian' forgeries made him a European sensation.
Meanings follow Ó Corráin & Maguire's Irish Names and Woulfe; pronunciations give the commonest Irish-English form. Know this name better — a dialect pronunciation, a family tradition? Tell us. · All Irish names A–Z