Aoife?

[clairemiss79]

I love the name Aoife but living in England I'm worried that it will be constantly mis-pronounced. Does anyone know any aoifes?

[Janek]

I've got an Aoife, she had a year with a lot of supply teachers in year 1 and the class got very used to chorussing 'it's Aoife' when they got to her name on the register.

Her year 2 teacher insisted on calling her Ether, despite being corrected by me at least twice ('i do usually call her that' - really because i just heard you say Ether, why do you ever get it wrong?!? You've got the hard bit right!).

Oh and a french passport control man called her 'waf' the other day, which was so confusing i didnt even realise he was reading her name until we'd left him.

But other than that, oh and people thinking she's called eva, no problems. Most people get it right, certainly after the first time they meet her!

I still love the name and she's 8.

[VictoriaOfHouseMN]

I like Aoife. I used to pronounce it Eye-orf but I think the girl from Saturdays named her daughter that and I looked up how to pronounce it.

[MaloryArcher]

It's a lovely name (and my sister's name). It will get mispronounced to shit in the UK though.

And I do think it's a slightly odd choice for anyone who isn't Irish.

Like me calling my child Jean-Christophe or Alejandro.

[ShatnersBassoon]

It's a lovely name. One of the nicest, warmest women I know is Aoife.

[ShatnersBassoon]

And I do think it's a slightly odd choice for anyone who isn't Irish.

Op might be Irish

[Pico2]

I think people might struggle with the spelling, so you need to decide whether it bothers you. We really liked it, but the spelling/pronunciation issues made us decide against.

[meerschweinchen]

I absolutely love Aoife, but I'm afraid I don't know anyone with the name. Just wanted to say what a lovely choice.

I'm afraid it will get mispronounced though.

[GreyTS]

I'm an Aoife, and although I'm irish I grew up elsewhere so was the only Aoife I knew. It was fine, no one ever forgot my name after the first time, everyone liked it, in fact I never had any negative reactions to my name. My sister on the other hand struggled with her irish name, no one ever remembered it or pronounced it correctly.

[GreyTS]

However English people often call me eefer which I hate

[sandberry]

Will probably get mispronounced sometimes but it is the 205th most popular name in England and Wales and going up, more and more people will be familiar with it.

[Catsmamma]

i'd have used that for dd if I had heard of it!!

Always always loved Imogen for a girl but a couple of years before dd was born Imogen was everywhere, anyhoo, dh liked Eve and not my other choice but I think Aoife is just the loveliest name.

greyts .....how do you pronounce it? I never found out cos she was about two when i discovered it.

[GreyTS]

Pronunciation is eefa so pretty simple, like Eva but with an f

[Catsmamma]

ooh i am glad...that's how i heard it in my head. I wondered if it might have been something more complicated like an oy-eeeaaahh sound

[Ludways]

I know a couple of Aoife's, I think it's lovely.

[SamBob]

Catsmamma how did you decide you like a name you've never heard pronounced?

To answer the OP I think it's a lovely name but am very biased! Growing up in the UK I was certainly unique but think it would be less so now.
Most people remember how to say it once they hear it once and you just get the habit of spelling it out automatically.

[NanaNina]

There are lots of them in Ireland! I think it would be best to spell it how it sounds - "Eefa" to prevent mispronunciation, although an Aoife gets called "Eefer" which is not good. My friend is Irish and lives in the UK and her name is spelled Dedra because her mom knew that non Irish people would pronounce Deidre as Deardree. There are some lovely Irish girls' names but the do have unusual spellings.

[treaclesoda]

They're not unusual spellings, they're a different language! . That's like taking a, oh I don't know, Russian name, for example, and saying 'oh its such an unusual spelling' .

It is funny how other languages are accepted as languages, yet Irish and Gaelic and Welsh are considered to have 'funny spelling'.

[treaclesoda]

Nana that wasn't actually meant to sound like I was attacking you, because I think from your post you're maybe Irish yourself? Sorry if it came across that way.

It just always makes me laugh on mumsnet how Irish etc are just considered a bit strange rather than, well, foreign.

[DramaAlpaca]

Love, love, love Aoife. My favourite Irish girl's name.

It's one of the most popular girl's names in Ireland, there are loads of them here.

Not sure if I'd use it in the UK though because English people (myself included) struggle to pronounce it properly. I have to stop myself saying Eefer, when it should be Eefa.

[cosikitty]

How do you pronounce this, I wouldn't have a clue?

[Germgirl]

Am I being thick? (Probably). I'm sitting here mumbling 'Eefa, Eefer' and I can't tell the difference.

[Passthecake30]

I have a friend in Ireland with an Aoife. I know it's pronounced Efa...and that's how I say it. But when i read it in my head it sounds like "alfie"...and I just can't stop!

[DeadCert]

Eefer.....Eefa

Nope. Can't tell the difference

[onedev]

It's my favourite girls name ever - love it

[clairewitchproject]

My DD is friends with an Aoife. The main issue is that there is also an Eva, an Ava, and an Eve in the same class. So although they are spelled very differently there are a lot of little girls with very similar sounding names!