Irish names help!

Sorry to jump on this thread but I wonder if you could help me? There seem to be lots of people here who would know.
I have a new child called Eithne joining my brownies group (online at the moment)
How do I pronounce it? I want to make sure that I am saying it right so that she feels welcome and Google is giving different answers.
tIA

Surely it's Éibhín ?

To me it's a bit like saying "I like the sound of floor-vull as a name, how would you spell it in Irish?" and ending up with Flurbhall. You can of course have anything you like as a name, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea. And that's without the confusion of umpteen people going around with a name they pronounce in that way but with a different spelling.

I hadn't come across Éimhín before, given it's a real name it'd be the leading contender for me.

I think that poster is just using Evan (which is a form of John) as an equivalent.

I know a female Ailbhe (also a male saint) and a female Naoise, so I think a female Éimhín is fine.

But you might find, OP, that this is all a bit too much - there are loads of gorgeous Irish names, so I'm sure there's another one out there for you if this one just isn't quite right.

Irish speaker here. Éabhaoin is perfect spelling for what you want and adheres to all rules. Éadaoin is a name with the same sounds for example.

Éabhín is an issue due to the a one side of bh and í on the other, but it's not completely butchering the language like Aoibheann pronounced ee-veen does. Aibhín would be pronounced as Ah-veen around here.

I don't see that the name will be a big issue as it's not actually difficult to pronounce at all. I'm sure the British are not so thick as to not be able to repeat a simple sound when told.

On the made up name point that someone made above, are all names not made up? Some just more recent than others. This one is well established, though often with nonsensical spelling.

Well done OP for honouring your heritage and for making sure the spelling makes sense! It's a beautiful name.

In Irish there are names like Eábha =Ava so there must be a agreed way of spelling Ay-veen.

But that's what everyone has been trying to tell you, OP. There is no consensus, or, if by 'consensus' you mean 'what most people do', the consensus is the mis-spelling as Aoibheann. I'd be surprised if many native speakers used it for exactly the reasons @MindyStClaire gives, and literally everyone I have come across with a name pronounced Ayveen has written it as Aoibheann -- there are at least two at my son's school.

DS, who has an unusual Irish name, was born in London, and I absolutely get the desire to use an Irish name, but doesn't it water down your enthusiasm a bit to realise it's a bit of a mess?

rollercoaster.ie/pregnancy/baby-names/behind-the-name-aoibheann-gorgeous-unusual-but-how-to-pronounce-it/

This lists three (apparently) famous women all of whom spell it differently (Aoibheann, Aoibhinn and Aoibhin -- no fadas seem to be used in the article as a whole) but pronounce it Ayveen.

Or Éimhín? It's a male Saint - but it is a real Irish name, with a history, if that's important to you.

Yes, Éabhín is no good. I'd go with Éibhínn or Éabhaíonn myself. But it is a made up name so I'd steer clear personally. Aoibheann as Ayveen is a personal bugbear and I'd want to avoid all association! Nothing wrong with an Irish name with an Irish spelling (DD1 has one mentioned on this thread) but Ayveen isn't either, regardless of how it's spelled.

I'm not an Irish speaker, not at all - just someone with a vague interest.

Now I think of it, Éabhín is no good, because you have a one side of the bh and í the other, which doesn't work.

I was basing it on Éabha, but that's a mistake on my part.

Éibhín might work?

Dia's Muire duit agus Pádraig, a OP.

Is é "Aoibheann" an t-ainm. Mar seo:
Dia duit, a hAoibhinn! ( Gairmeach)
Leabhair Aoibhinn. (Ginideach)

One name, two forms. Often in Ireland the vocative/genitive form is spoken but the nominative written when in English.

The pronunciation of both forms is different in the dialects.

In Munster inn is said with a long nasalised i. In Ulster it's a short i without nasal sound. I do about Conamara.

The aoi is various sounds unspellable in English. Reducing it to ee is a Learner Irish simplification. The i is merely a glide vowel to facilitate the slender consonant. It's sad when we allow the shoes of writing to crush the soft feet of the spoken language.

@spookycookies, for one thing, there is no ‘established’ spelling, because it’s usually written (wrongly) as Aoibheann. In Irish, there would be a number of different possible ways of writing the sounds that make up ‘Ayveen’.

I mean, I don’t disagree with you in that it’s not a name I would ever use, in or out of Ireland, because every time I come across it I have to wonder whether I’m going to pronounce it (correctly) as ‘Even’, given that it’s very likely the owner of the name pronounces it ‘Ayveen’, because that’s how her parents taught her to pronounce it, and it seems like a needless complication.