Baby born during WWII “all clear” siren, named Sireen

British air raid siren
British air raid siren

A week ago I posted about a baby who was named for the air raid shelter he was born in. Here’s a somewhat similar story:

A baby girl was born to an Irish mother living in London around the start of The Blitz, which lasted from September 1940 to May 1941.

[The] baby girl was named “Sireen” because, her mother explained, the “all clear” siren was wailing when the child was born.

That “-een” ending reminds me of familiar Irish girl names like Cathleen and Maureen, which are Anglicized forms of Caitlín and Máirín. In these names, the “-ín” is a diminutive suffix. If Sireen’s mother created the name with this suffix in mind, we could interpret it as meaning “little siren.”

Source: Wagnon, Hugh. “Irish Air Raid Babies Return.” Leader-Post [Regina, Saskatchewan] 11 Oct. 1940: 23.

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