As someone who works with infants and children in significant numbers on a daily basis I can tell you that the name Declan started showing up in America first around 7-8 years ago and briefly rose in frequency for a couple years and then declined to a relatively small percentage for the last couple years. It is a name that will be easily pronounceable simply from its spelling, and not common enough that there will be three or four of them in his first grade class. I kind of like the looks of the Gaelic spelling but too wonder about the varied pronunciation, and how people who will be encountering his unusual version of the name will butcher it the first time they see it. If you do choose Gaelic please be prepared to be patient with the rest of the world who will undoubtedly get an unusual pronunciation wrong more often than right, as well as some frustrations from folks who do not understand why you didn't just call him "Bob" to make everyone's life simpler, and questions (sometimes strange) from others who will wonder about its origins and why you chose to give your child such a unique name.

I am not saying don't do it, merely that you will need to be prepared for the way the rest of the world will be interfacing with it and how that may affect initially you and your spouse and later your child. I see unusual and unique names every day, many lovely and lyrical, but unusual spellings and spellings which do not visually match the actual pronunciation due to dialect or other reasons often get mispronounced by people who are calling out your child's name say in a doctor's office or school auditorium. A lot of parents get upset when that mispronunciation occurs, despite no intended ill by those who mispronounce it I only mention this as to many parents it seems like a troublesome burden every time they have to correct (or simply tolerate in silence) a mispronunciation or explain the reasons behind their choice of names, and only later on realize that the child themselves will have to do the same when they are older.

I personally like uncommon names but prefer those whose pronunciation is simple and directly obvious from its spelling----my kids are Calvin, Madeleine, and Carter. In my business I see many ethnic names that I require some help with if I butcher the pronunciation the first time I encounter the child, but I always promise the parents that I will not butcher it a second time.

I too am curious to see what the pronuciation of the Gaelic variant will be from a native gaelic speaker. I do like the name Declan, too, though.

Congratulations on your wonderful news, and I pray that all goes swimmingly with the remainder of your pregnancy and childbirth, and that you are blessed with a beautiful and healthy infant, whatever you decide to name him/her.

jeff