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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Aoife?

137 replies

clairemiss79 · 26/06/2014 20:08

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

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JontyMyers · 27/06/2014 16:17

i pronounce it ayy ooo feee i know this i wrong but its just how i see it written and im irish Smile

Arudonto · 27/06/2014 16:12

Ee-fa
emphasis on the E,with the fa rhyming with ha

My favourite Irish girls name at the minute.It is very very popular here in Ireland though.

In my accent(west irish) theres a hugh difference between eefa and eefer...completely different.Must be an accent thing

GarlicJunoWho · 27/06/2014 13:01

Blummin' confusin', innit johnny ...

littlejohnnydory · 27/06/2014 12:00

Ifa or Yfa aren't pronounced anything like Aoife as I read them. Maybe because I'm from Wales where Efa is Eva (but pronounced with a short e, like egg, rather than ee).

littlejohnnydory · 27/06/2014 11:57

I don't know any but I do know how to pronounce it. I'd have thought it was well known enough (like Niamh) for pronunciation not to be a problem, but maybe not!

squoosh · 27/06/2014 11:30

I think Aoife is really dull.

Sorry.

Original poster
clairemiss79 · 27/06/2014 07:46

Thanks for all your replies. I am Irish but we live in England. I love aoife but am also considering Ava. I think the class will be full of Avas though

OP posts:
mathanxiety · 27/06/2014 02:52

In my (rhotic) Irish accent there is a world of difference between EEfa and EEfer..
EEfa is much closer to the right pronunciation.

Nereida · 27/06/2014 00:18

Eefer and Eefa are slightly different in my accent - but I'm from the West Country Grin

I quite like Aoife but many people in England won't know how to pronounce it. I once heard someone say it like 'oif' Confused

MyrtleDove · 26/06/2014 22:44

It makes me think of Aoife from the Maria show, that was the first time I came across it and I thought how pretty it was.

I can't tell the difference between Eefa and Eefer though Confused Might be an English accent thing?

ShoeWhore · 26/06/2014 22:34

Gorgeous name. We had it on our list but kept having boys Grin

But people will struggle to pronounce it.
The anglicised spelling aren't half as pretty imho.

GarlicJunoWho · 26/06/2014 22:30

Thank god, Germ and Cert, I was starting to wonder if I've gone through life mispronouncing "a" Confused

Having never heard of Aiofe until now, and having a very English terror of mispronouncing Irish names (I end up saying "umm", as we do,) please may I urge you to spell it Ifa? Or Yfa :)

clairewitchproject · 26/06/2014 22:30

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!

onedev · 26/06/2014 22:24

It's my favourite girls name ever - love it Grin

DeadCert · 26/06/2014 22:20

Eefer.....Eefa

Nope. Can't tell the difference

Passthecake30 · 26/06/2014 22:19

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!

Germgirl · 26/06/2014 22:17

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

cosikitty · 26/06/2014 22:12

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

DramaAlpaca · 26/06/2014 22:07

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.

treaclesoda · 26/06/2014 22:00

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. Grin

treaclesoda · 26/06/2014 21:58

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

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

NanaNina · 26/06/2014 21:52

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.

SamBob · 26/06/2014 21:23

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.

Ludways · 26/06/2014 21:18

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

Catsmamma · 26/06/2014 21:11

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

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