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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Aine or Grainne

63 replies

Greendaisydays · 05/05/2021 20:09

Aine (Awn-ya)
Grainne (Grawn-ya)

Or should we play safe now we are in England
Selene
Xanthe
Elowen
Elodie

Or what are people’s favourites. I would quite like nature or Celtic names

OP posts:

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RedLem0ns · 05/05/2021 20:33

😂 at “notiony”

romdowa · 05/05/2021 20:32

@LemonRoses

ShoppingPrecinctPrincess. I know but I’ve never heard either pronounced that way by friends with the names or who’ve used them for their children. Maybe regional pronunciation, most are West coast, Co. Cork or Galway.

I'm from west cork and its definitely said awn-ya or grawn-ya. The fada elongates the vowel. OP I love both names and I've a friends with one of those names living in the uk newrly 10 years and she has had minimal issues. Its weird that the irish worry about this so much. I've met so many other people from different countries and cultures with far more complicated names who have been born and bred in the uk and never a second thought has been given to how others will cope with the name.

ILoveStickers · 05/05/2021 20:31

Love Áine.

Not so sure on Gráinne. I know how to say it but I looks like Granny or grain.

partyatthepalace · 05/05/2021 20:28

Well - I love Selene (presuming it’s the proper 3 syllables) and who wouldn’t want to be called after a goddess
Xanthe is nice too
Ditto Elowen, tho lots of El names around...
Elodie is is pretty but bit fussy

Aine I find ok but bit dull and ploddy compared to the above. Grainne I really think is ugly. (And I do like Irish names BTW, just not these two - Oona, Aislinn?!)

ShoppingPrecinctPrincess · 05/05/2021 20:27

That's a strange one. I know loads of áines and gráinnes from all over Ireland and they're all awn-yas and grawn-yas.

CaffiSaliMali · 05/05/2021 20:25

Áine.

I went to school with a Caoimhe and people managed to learn how to say and spell it. Some Irish names are well known in the UK now like Aoife, Orla and Una. Especially in London.

Elowen is gorgeous, there are so many lovely Welsh, Breton and Cornish names as well as Irish and Manx names.

Xanthe is fabulous.
Selena and Elodie are also nice but the latter is quite popular at the moment I think.

LemonRoses · 05/05/2021 20:24

ShoppingPrecinctPrincess · 05/05/2021 20:19

@LemonRoses

Not the pronunciation I’d recognise. I like them both as Aan-Ya and Graan-Ya

where is this pronunciation from?!

á makes an aw sound in Irish.

loveisanopensore · 05/05/2021 20:19

Áine.

But these threads always go the same way.
For what it's worth I had two daughters with very Irish names in London. Other children and most adults were fine with their names.

ShoppingPrecinctPrincess · 05/05/2021 20:18

Personally I think áine and grainne are at the duller end of the Irish girls name scale. But if you love them you should go ahead and pick one, they're perfectly useable in the UK although the pronunciation will most likely be a bit off.

Selene and Elowen are both lovely and the kind of name an áine or a gráinne would think very fancy indeed, possibly even 'notiony',

LemonRoses · 05/05/2021 20:17

Not the pronunciation I’d recognise. I like them both as Aan-Ya and Graan-Ya

DramaAlpaca · 05/05/2021 20:14

I'd choose Áine, and remember it needs that fada to get the correct pronunciation. However, in England she will spend her life being called Onya, so be prepared for that. It might really annoy you - it would me.

I'm not keen on Gráinne, it's a bit hard sounding.

I like all your other names, especially Elodie.

Frogsonglue · 05/05/2021 20:12

I love Aine but have heard it pronounced Ar-nya (London Irish family).

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