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Baby names

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

Original poster

Aoife

93 replies

1haudyerwheesht · 08/01/2018 11:33

Do you think Aoife blends in too much with all the Eva's and Ava's about? Obviously the spelling makes it stand out but is the pronunciation too similar? My daughter has a traditional irish name and looking for another.

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mathanxiety · 09/01/2018 20:36

Narrow consonant, not vowel.

mathanxiety · 09/01/2018 20:36

Lasairfhiona is Lassa- reena if you want to ignore the fact that the R is a narrow vowel, and Lassa- rheena for the more correct version.

mathanxiety · 09/01/2018 20:31

"poor little Aoife when she has to learn to spell her name"

You do realise that babies don't come with a default setting of 'English', right?

cathyclown · 09/01/2018 18:44

Riona came up here in a pp. That is just gorgeous. Well to me anyway.

Aoife is lovely too don't get me wrong, but there is something easy on the ear about Riona. It comes for the Irish for Queen.

There are so many legends regarding the origin of Gaelic/Irish names, it is fascinating to me.

harrietm87 · 09/01/2018 18:31

I guess Aoibh would have the same issue with Eve confusion - lots of little Evies around as well.

OP I think it does sound similar to those names which are extremely common.

I like the Caoimhe suggestion, or what about Aoibheann?

Also Siofra is lovely with a cute meaning, but maybe you want to avoid the same initial as Saoirse?

Lisette40 · 09/01/2018 17:39

What about Aoibh?

Motherofbabydragons · 09/01/2018 17:35

Trust me Ben could have just as much learning how to spell his name as Aoife...at that stage phonics is still lost on their little minds bless them😂

Original poster
1haudyerwheesht · 09/01/2018 17:32

My post was not about the mispronunciation by some or the spelling. It was about the possibility of the beauty of the name being lost amongst a sea of Ava's and Eva's. Saoirse has learnt to spell her name just fine Hmm

OP posts:
Coloursthatweremyjoy · 09/01/2018 17:03

Thank you Mumsnet. I recently read " The bone clocks" and have finally learned how to pronounce Aiofe. I've just spent a whole book doing it wrong! Perhaps I should try again...I liked it...not sure I liked it that much,..

Coconutspongexo · 09/01/2018 16:55

Oops ha Aoife

Coconutspongexo · 09/01/2018 16:55

pipilangstrumpf

I’m Polish my name is Niamh I’m sure little Aiofe will be fine..

RavenWings · 09/01/2018 16:38

And poor Aoife when she has to learn to spell her name

Grin That's a very Little Englander comment. Would you say the same about Phoebe?

DullAndOld · 09/01/2018 16:37

it's not the most unusual name ever...I would be surprised if somebody had never heard it before. if you don't know how to pronounce something, you can just ask.

twinjocks · 09/01/2018 16:37

Yes, you do, WaitrosePigeon! Many PPs have written the phonetic pronunciation and here it is again: Ee-fa.

pipilangstrumpf · 09/01/2018 16:36

And poor Aoife when she has to learn to spell her name...

pipilangstrumpf · 09/01/2018 16:35

I had no idea either. It is not exactly obvious Grin

WaitrosePigeon · 09/01/2018 13:01

Absolutely no idea how to pronounce that!

Coconutspongexo · 09/01/2018 13:00

I don’t think that many people will have trouble pronouncing - it’s becoming a lot more popular for a start so it’ll just become another name people become familiar with.

TabbyCat864 · 09/01/2018 12:57

I don't think it blends in at all. I quite like it, but a lot of people will have trouble pronouncing it.

TabbyCat864 · 09/01/2018 12:55

I don't think it blends in at all. I quite like it, but a lot of people will have trouble pronouncing it.

HolyShmoly · 09/01/2018 12:49

Ah I get you. Sorry!

harrietm87 · 09/01/2018 12:42

@HolyShmoly but the pp said it was gra-nah - ie missed the "nya" part off as well (like in Aine), which is mainly what I objected to.

DullAndOld · 09/01/2018 12:10

I would never call a child in England 'Angharad' the English would murder it, and the poor child would become 'Anger- rad'

HolyShmoly · 09/01/2018 12:06

Harriet, I heard the harsher Gran-nya a lot when younger, it might be an Ulster/Donegal pronunciation, or just the accent. Grawn-nya is much more common though.
Math, I've never heard Lasairfhìona before - would that be law-sar-FEE-ehna? Or lawsarfiona? I always struggle with fadas.

mathanxiety · 09/01/2018 06:26

Name suggestions:
Lasairfhíona
Dymphna
Sulán (a river in in Cúil Aodha in West Cork, where Sean O Riada lived and worked)
Siún
Seònaid (Scots Gaelic)
Angharad (Welsh)

I love the boy list. Love Senan too.

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