Irish names

I have a friend with a Luiseach (Lucy) and I know of a family with a Biddy. Thier other little one has a very unusual Irish name it starts with Bl but I can't remember it at the moment.

You can't win. My children have English names but nearly every name has two different spellings. eg, Juliette or juliet, Susie or Suzy

I'm Irish, with an Irish first name and surname, have lived and worked all over the world in English and other-language environments, and have never come across the situation Grayjane describes. An 'international' work environment is used to dealing with names from different cultures - hers just sounds plain unprofessional. I cannot imagine a situation where professionals competently doing their job are allowed to go on sidelining colleagues because they are too incompetent to be able to pronounce their names???

OP, I have lived in England for years, and in London for most of that time, and never had an issue. My son has an unusual Irish first name and my surname, and likewise no issues with peers, school, GP, other than spelling/pronouncing it initially for people. People always shriek on here about GP receptionists mispronouncing things, but ours was dealing with names from about thirty cultures on a daily basis without any fuss.

Aoife is really common - she won't have any problems, if you like the name. Don't not choose an Irish name you like because of other people's scaremongering!

I'm sure I read that Aidan is the Irish spelling and Aiden is Scottish but I might be wrong. goregeous name and I love it (but am biased having one myself)

Thinking of Irish names...

My cousin has a Chaolfinn (keelan, I think) and a Lochlann.

Another is an Ooonagh.

Bridie (might be a bit old fashioned but I love the sound of it)

Quinn.

Richard shortened to Ritchie is a name passed down in our family which suits the old granddads and young babies.

A friend has an Aiobheann (A-veen) - I have never heard of this or heard of any others.

Lots of Aoife here in rural England. Became very fashionable. I would go for Maeve

I have a Ciar and some people get it straight away and some struggle the first time. I really like Caoimhe and Eithne (not having any more) but like all those mentioned so far too.

Just be careful with spelling. Perhaps your OP was a typo, but the correct spelling is Aoife. Aoi = E sound. Aoibhe (Eva) similar too and also beautiful.

I had to laugh when Una from the Saturdays named her dd Aoife and I was reading the DailyMail comments 😳 and people were complaining about these crazy celebrity names, obviously not realising that in Ireland, Aoife would be like calling a baby Emily or Sarah in the UK!

It's your choice Op obviously (!) but I adore the name Aoife.

I'm Irish and living in England. I gave my son an Irish name and yes it's causing problems but my take is people can manage to learn one new word surely.

Maeve is a stunning name. It's a classic and not over-used. Like Aoife too, but Maeve a bit more

I'd spell Aidan this way (as opposed to Aiden)

Aoife is nice, but I prefer Maeve

Aoife is lovely, I think it's becoming more popular and well known? Im in the south east. I love Irish names, I think Niamh, Siobhan and Orlaith are quite well known. I love Caoimhe, Saoirse and Siofra.

Love Aoife and most people I know would know how to spell and pronounce (live in Scotland). I'd have loved it for a girl but too similar to a cousin's name. Orlaith would have been our girl's name.

Love Aiden too! Was on our list along with Ciaran (you obviously can't use that ) and Finn.

Love the name Fergal!

Hmmm...shouldn't they have some of your heritage in their name?

My DC have an Irish surname, so we decided against Irish first names.

I work in an international environment. There are a few girls with gorgeous Irish names, and unfortunately, its not so easy for them. They tend not to get mentioned publicly or introduced, simply for fear of people getting their names wrong. And when they do get mentioned, people cannot relate the name to the spelling, thus adding more confusion. Some of them have added phonetic pronunciation to their signature lines.

ps, what will the child's sur name be?

I think if the child has an Irish sur name, then an Irish first name as well could be an over representation of your child's heritage - given that it will be half English and raised in the UK! But that's just one way of looking at things.

I'm Irish and I can suggest a few lovely names that aren't difficult for anybody with half a brain. However , having read comments on mumsnet, it seems that even names that pre-date brian boru are considered chav in some circles. That was a surprise to me, I had thought that that xenophobia would be recognised for what it is but no. ie, Conor, Ireland's High king "chav" apparently according to some English people.

Aoife is very simple in my view. It has the same vibe as Anna or Emma or Ella to me. Just a simple name. But it will be perceived very differently in the UK.

I considered Clodagh Maeve. I liked Diarmuid for a boy.

Emer is ok but it's a bit of a middle aged name. I like Siún ( shoon )and Fraoch FRAYoch too. They're my favourite Irish girls names. I think it's better that they're not so easily pigeon holed by the UK ear.

I have a 14yr old Niamh and live in Scotland, most people get it now as it's become more well known

Aoife is nice - very popular where I live (NI), I think you'd be fine with it. I think I prefer Meave or what about Emer?

Love Aoife!

I'm Irish but living in Scotland, I work in paediatric ward and we now get so many more Irish names and my colleagues never seem to have any problems now with the more popular ones such as Niamh, Aoife, una etc. I love Maeve too mind you!