Aine or Grainne

Love the name Áine OP.

SeanChailleach is correct in saying that á is not pronounced as aw in Ulster. Áine is said differently in the north and south of Ireland as a result. I say Áwn-yeh myself.

@SeanChailleach
doegen.ie/LA_1070d2is a recording of Seán Ó Conaill from Co. Kerry reciting An tÁivé Máiria in 1928. He is definitely saying "ah" not "aw".

Accents are funny though aren't they? I just listened to that recording by Seán Ó Conaill and to my ear he is clearly saying 'aw' for á.. it's the same sound I'd use in yawn or awning.

I'm a bit confused about cás rhyming with farce etc as given in TYI...is that a different pronunciation to the one given for Munster in the link here @SeanChailleach?
www.teanglann.ie/en/gram/c%C3%A1s
Similarly áit...

I love both names, absolute classics.

I'm puzzled by people saying á is only pronounced "aw". teanglann.ie has "grá" is "ah" in Ulster, "aw" in Connacht and Munster, however, the 1961 version of "Teach Yourself Irish" gives the following West Munster dialect pronunciations:
áit like Eng. "art" (but with palatal t)
cás rhymes with Eng. "farce"
The recordings that go with TYI match this - the author meant the way art and farce are pronounced in RP English, with a silent r.

doegen.ie/LA_1070d2 is a recording of Seán Ó Conaill from Co. Kerry reciting An tÁivé Máiria in 1928. He is definitely saying "ah" not "aw".

I love doegen.ie (voice recordings) and dúchas.ie (stories written in the most gorgeous handwritings) - if you love Irish, take a look.

Aine is quite nice, though personally I prefer the look and sound of Anya. I really dislike Grainne - reminds me of grain or groin. Saoirse is my favourite Irish name. I also really like Fiadh.

Selene - ok, much prefer Serena or Sabrina
Xanthe - ok, prefer Thea
Elowen - looks pretty written down, but I find it quite clunky to say
Elodie - ok

How about:

Eira
Eleri
Ffion
Imogen
Rosalie
Iris
Sylvie / Sylvia
Fern

Áine I've always liked but then I got shot down in flames for liking Siriol a Welsh name everyone claims they can't say!

Aoife presumably.

@postern well then my child due in the winter is in for a life time of misery. Weve picked an unusual irish name if it's a boy and we actually got quite a surprise to see our girls name in the Irish top 10 for last year. My kids are also going to be stuck with a traditional cornish surname😂😂 I've every confidence they will survive having to tell people how to pronounce their names.

Áine. I don’t like the “Grawn” sound of Gráinne.

Also like Selene (but would be mispronounced as Sel-een I suspect) and Xanthe. El- names seem a bit overdone compared to your other more interesting options.

'the proximity of Gráinne to ‘gránna’ bothers me slightly.'

Agree with this.

I'm not in the UK but know both Áine and Gráinne and how to pronounce them. I like both, particularly Gráinne. I also like Xanthe, Elowen and Elodie - particularly Elowen. I'd narrow it down to Elowen, Gráinne and Áine in that order.

Out of step with the rest of the thread, I love Gráinne!
Áine is lovely too though.
I’m in London and have met women with both names.

I don’t think it is that weird, @romdowa, given that threads on Irish names on Mn always go the same way, as a pp said, and are full of posters saying they don’t know how to pronounce Run of the Mill Irish Name X, therefore no one else will and the child will be bullied at school, left out at work, and die alone eaten by her cats etc etc.

Having said that, DS, born in England, has an unusual Irish name and surname and never experienced problems, so I hope Mn is just particularly close-minded.

Like you, I’ve met Áines and Gráinnes from all over Ireland, and I’ve lived longterm in Cork and Galway, and they’ve only ever been Grawn-yuh and Awn-yuh.

Not wildly enthused by either, tbh. Would chooseÁine at a push, as the proximity of Gráinne to ‘gránna’ bothers me slightly. And too much Tóraíocht D and G in my schooldays...

I wouldn't be picking a girl's name containing 'Grawn'.

Makes me think of the guardian newspaper (though that's Graun) and is not a pretty sound.

Áine. Gráinne is very old fashioned.

I like Elowen too.

What about
Lowenna
Carys
Nerys
Nessa/Neassa
Nora
Muireann

Aine is my fave of the two - although I pronounce it Arn- yah.

Of your other choices I really like Xanthe and it has the bonus of likely avoiding the pronunciations issues of your other choices (except quite popular Elodie). Selene will be Seh- leen and Elowen likely L.O.N - so you'd have to not mind that (I think you/DD might get fed up of correcting people otherwise).

Aine Grace

I like Áine but I worked for an English company with an Áine on my team and none of them, from any part of the country could say her name right.
Elowen is lovely.

Are the other 4 names safe? They’re lovely names, but safe names in England are Sophie and Alice

Caoimhe is lovely, and much better known than the others if you're worried about pronunciation.

But I still like Áine best!

I would play it safe. I had a client called Grannie and I could never remember how to pronounce her name, all I would think was Grannie. I do like Selene or Xanthe the most. Neave (sorry not sure in correct spelling ) is a sweet name

I know how to spell and say Aine and Grainne (though I can't do the fada on my phone) despite not being Irish. I think Aine sounds prettier. DD is at school with a Grainne and it always reminds me of groin, possibly because the girls say it in a cross between awn and oyn somehow.
Caoimhe is lovely.
Selene, Elodie, Elowen and Xanthe are all gorgeous though and all (except possibly Elodie) quite unusual.
I love Elowen personally.

Elowen is El-OW-en not L O N.
I suspect it will get popular and the Elle-O-N pronunciation become common and you'll have another Ellie.

Selene - is it Sel-ee-nee or Sel-een? Won't people think it is spelt Celine.
Xanthe - is it Zanthy?

No keen on Grainne