I don't know the name, but if it is an authentic Irish name, could it perhaps come from céibh + fhionn (fair hair/tress of hair)?

I have seen céibh in old poetry I think, related to ciabh.

Here it is:

bhí gríos-ghrua ghartha aici ´gus lainnir ina céibh mar ór

in the poem Úirchill an Chreagáin.

Well, "Caoimhín" doesn't sound a bit like "Kevin," but it's the name that gave rise to it. "Céibhionn" sounds much closer to an English-speaker's ears, particularly if he or she isn't familiar with the subtleties of the broad and slender consonants.

But I'd assume that, if someone posited "Céibhionn," he or she WOULDN'T be an Irish speaker, because he or she would already know that "Kevin" came from "Caoimhín."

Redwolf

They aren't always _obvious_ but the basis of the glide is always _there_ in the palatization or velarization or bilabialization.

The glide isn't something you "add" to the consonant, it is part of the consonant's basic pronunciation and becomes more obvious in certain situations.


When the OP said they had a "fantastic" name, I just assumed they'd made it up for a story or something.

There's also an actual word (as opposed to given name) céibheann "fair-haired lady" in FGB (Irish-English dictionary), which would be pronounced KAY-vun /k´e:w´əN/.

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).

heh... no, this is not a name I made up =) it's the modern simplified version of the old Irish Ceibhfhionn, without the silent -fh-. Mythological figure - Irish goddess of inspiration who guards the well of knowledge. It's one of my middle names, and I thought that with this as a name I should have a better idea of it's proper pronunciation as I've always told people it's pronounced "kay-vuhn," but upon learning something about Irish pronunciation realized I was probably not saying it entirely correctly myself =P...

And yep... the literal meaning of the name is "lady of fair locks" you got it

I'm also American, so I have my New Jersey accent tendencies to get in the way as well... I've always said it with the same vowel sound as "day," but apparently that's not accurate.

that's not what is called a glide in phonetics.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semivowel

In "céibhionn", the c isn't followed by a glide, in this case, being slender only means that the c is palatalised ie. pronounced further front than a normal c (which is velar).
And there's no glide either after the bh (unlike before a long vowel, like "bheo", which really is "vyaw" which a glide, this time).

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

For what it's worth and from someone who hasn't the faintest idea what a "bilabialized consonant" sounds like - I have a son named Kevin and on various trips back to Donegal (Cruacha Gorma region) my father-in-law, to my son's chagrin, always called him "Keev-un"

Oh, well, I'll leave the phonetics up to you. I only do phonemics and phonics.

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Múinteoir Gaeilge - Irish Teacher
My "specialty" is Connemara Irish, particularly Cois Fhairrge dialect, but I can also speak Ulster and Munster Irish with native-level pronunciation.
Is fearr Gaeilge ḃriste ná Béarla cliste, cinnte, aċ i ḃfad níos fearr aríst í Gaeilge ḃinn ḃeo na nGaeltaċtaí.
Gaeilge Chonnacht (GC), go háraid Gaeilge Chois Fhairrge (GCF), Gaeilic Uladh (GU), Gaelainn na Mumhan (GM), agus Gaeilge an Chaighdeáin Oifigiúil (CO).