My name is Nuala, as you can see. Every time I've looked up the meaning I've seen 'fair shoulder' or 'white shoulder'.
Now how can someone be named after a shoulder?
I've seen that Fionnuala comes from 'fionn ghualainn', daughter of Lir. That sounds a bit better to me, daughter of a mythical king sounds a bit more interesting.
But it still means 'shoulder' doesn't it? I mean, maybe he called his other children after knees and ankles, I don't know.
Does anyone have a translation to comfort me?

Have you had a look at the Baby Names of Ireland website ? There they say that's it's a short form of Fionnuala - fair shouldered, exceptionally lovely - and that in Ireland it is more widely used than Fionnuala. The name dates from the 13th century.
http://www.babynamesofireland.com/nuala
If you can find it, I recommend the bilingual edition of Clann Lir/The Children of Lir by Dawn Casey and illustrated by Diana Mayo - the Irish version (in Munster Irish) is by Máire Begley O'Shea - published by Mantra Lingua.

The white shoulders were considered as beautiful like golden hair, rosy cheeks etc.Remember, long ago fair damsels wore considerably more clothing and just a glimpse of skin was considered alluring

An older form of the name is Fionnghuala (simplified in the 1950s in "Fionnuala" but the pronunciation is the same), fionn+guala. Guala is an older form of the word gualainn, shoulder.

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne

Go raigh maith agat L - I hadn't realised that - here's the song
http://www.celticlyricscorner.net/bothy ... ghuala.htm

Thanks for the replies and for the book info, I'll have a look at that.

Not much comfort though. Now if it were a man's name then 'shoulder' might be a compliment.
And I'm thinking that in olden times if you got a glimpse of a woman's shoulder you could probably comment on her swan-like neck or white breast (in the poetic sense) in preference to her shoulder for heaven's sake.
Just some light-hearted musings on my part. I think I'll stick to the explanation that I'm the daughter of a king and it's just a name.........

Fionnuala WAS the daughter of Lir, but that's not what the NAME means! That's like saying "Elizabeth" means "Daughter of Henry."

You have to remember that different cultures have different standards of beauty. Fair/white shoulders were considered alluring in ancient Irish society, much as large, dramatic eyes are in Arab countries. If you listen to traditional Irish song, you'll hear shoulders praised a lot, along with cheeks and feet. Why should "fair shoulders" be any less of a compliment for a woman than "broad shoulders" would be for a man?

Redwolf

Well, I grew up on traditional Irish songs and I can't remember one about shoulders
I should explain that I'm living in Italy and I have great problems with the name. When you say it, it sounds almost exactly like 'nulla' which means 'nothing'.
I work with the public and Italians are very inquisitive so they always ask me what it means. I did try explaining the shoulders bit a few times but that caused even greater perplexity.
So I know it doesn't mean daughter of a king but I think I'll just stick to that, it's easier.
Sorry if this thread appears flippant, I just wondered if anyone had anything to add. It's been useful, anyhow, I'll look more into the mythology.
But now back to 'Learning Irish'........

If you are interested there is an Italian/English version of I Figli di Lir - The Children of Lir available from Mantra Lingua ISNB 978 18526983386.
As you are in Italy, you might like to know that there is the Irlandando.it Forum and that there exists a coursebook and dictionary for learning Irish available in Italian. There is also an Italian forum for Italians living mainly in Dublin.

Nuala has 3 syllables: noo-uh-luh. Doesn't sound like "nulla" in my opinion, if you pronounce it clearly.

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Is fearr Gaeilg na Gaeltaċta ná Gaeilg ar biṫ eile
Agus is í Gaeilg Ġaoṫ Doḃair is binne