Áine (Irish - pronounced onya)

There are lots of names from other cultures I find ugly and I have no qualms saying so. For example, Blodwyn - sorry, Wales. Or Bertha - sorry, Germany!

Quick explain for people with no Irish: all consonants have two versions: slender and broad.
The difference is used in grammar, for instance to make some plurals, Irish narrows the final consonant. (Indicated in the spelling by inserting a silent letter i.)

an bád "the boat": na báid "the boats".
an garsún "the boy": na garsúin "the boys"

In some dialects the slender consonants have a little y sound and the broad consonants are plain.
In other dialects the slender consonants are plain and the broad consonants have a little w sound.

The name Ana is just same as English Anna.
Áine is Awnya or Ana depending on dialect.

Áine has a name day in France because it was popular in Brittany at one point, so I don't think the coincidental written resemblance to 'groin' has been seen as much of a problem, historically.

Á is pronounced differently in Ulster Irish (not as aw), and that affects the pronunciation of Áine too as chickepie and others have said.

The fada elongates the vowel in ulster whereas it changes the sound in the rest of the dialects. Given fada means long, I would say ulster is more the original sound.

www.teanglann.ie/en/gram/b%c3%a1ine

And in how one of the speakers pronounces Áine in this link -

forvo.com/word/%C3%A1ine/

Á is pronounced differently in Ulster Irish (not as aw), and that affects the pronunciation of Áine too as chickepie and others have said.

To those quibbling about the sound of the second vowel, it's a schwa -- in this position an unstressed, toneless neutral vowel.

Frazzled wrote
Omg
This is a deal breaker
French MIL

Similar Irish names:
Báine - means "whiteness" (but might get confused with "bainne" which means milk)
Daráine - "daughter of Áine" ( a rate but authentic early name)
Uaine - "green" or maybe "queen". In the Finn tales, Uaine Buide from Síd Dúinn Buide is accompanied by all the birds from the Land of Promise and makes the most wonderful music.

Dawn and Don sound exactly the same in my accent also.

chickenpie1984
I know several and pronounce is Ann-ya. 
No, you're just pronouncing it wrong, and they're being polite.

Umm no I'm not. Im a fluent Irish speaker and have taught in Irish medium schools in NI. In our accent this is how everyone in my community pronounces it.

LizzieAnt wrote:
I think when the name was revived the incorrect pronunciation mistakenly became commonplace. Mostly, people don't realise it's not the original way it was said.
In Old Irish, "th" is a voiceless dental fricative. In Modern Irísh, it is either silent but tends to lengthen the vowel, (Donegal) or it is pronounced as a "h" (West Cork iiuc)
Bríd Eilís is a native speaker so whatever she says is right for Connacht.
With names sometimes an old pronunciation persists long after all other words have moved on. Eithne was a very common name, and I am not sure it ever did fall out of use, so maybe the "th" sound in there reflects memory especially in places where Irish was widely lostbefore the sound changed from th to h.

Sorry Op I think it's very ugly.

Am Aussie so reminds me of “Good Onya”

Suppose it’s not that different to Sonia but also don’t like that name either….

I think it’s more of an adult sounding name that they could grow into, given time

It looks like donkey In french

As an aside, I'm not sure the 'y' sound would have been said in Munster either, the same goes for the y in Áine for that matter

The (N)Y represents the slender N in both Eithne and Áine.

My favourite girls name. I pronounce it Awnya though!

@evilharpy
I should have said, too, that the singer also pronouces her name as Enya, simply because that's how Eithne (her actual name) is said in the Donegal Gaeltacht. So there are a fair few people saying Enya for Eithne (just not where I live).

I have honestly never met an Eithne who didn't pronounce it Ethna. Even the Irish-speaking ones (although to be fair none of them were from a Gaeltacht area). Maybe the anglicised pronunciation has just sort of become the norm? I'm not saying you're wrong, I understand how it should be pronounced in Irish (silent th etc) but I've just never heard it any other way.

Any Eithne I've met says Ethna too evilharpy - I'm in Munster, not a Gaeltact area, and it's the default pronunciation here now. I think when the name was revived the incorrect pronunciation mistakenly became commonplace. Mostly, people don't realise it's not the original way it was said. (As an aside, I'm not sure the 'y' sound would have been said in Munster either, the same goes for the y in Áine for that matter).

However, the link below shows some people do pronounce Eithne as Enya (the speakers are from Connemara and BridEilis also says she's a native speaker).

forvo.com/word/eithne/

I love Áine OP. It's a pity the French meaning spoils the name for you, but better to know now I suppose, given that you have French in-laws.

Sorry OP

Love it

I prefer Anna with a short a, or even Anya, also short a - but it's OK

Beautiful name.

[quote mathanxiety]@PleasantBirthday, Eithne is properly pronounced Enya.
(Actually it should be Enyeh- short e sound at the end - but heyho).

Some people pronounce it as if the name follows English phonetic rules - Eth-na - but that pronunciation is incorrect.

[/quote]
You say "some" - I have honestly never met an Eithne who didn't pronounce it Ethna. Even the Irish-speaking ones (although to be fair none of them were from a Gaeltacht area). Maybe the anglicised pronunciation has just sort of become the norm? I'm not saying you're wrong, I understand how it should be pronounced in Irish (silent th etc) but I've just never heard it any other way.

First thought is...onyabike

@PleasantBirthday, Eithne is properly pronounced Enya.
(Actually it should be Enyeh- short e sound at the end - but heyho).

Some people pronounce it as if the name follows English phonetic rules - Eth-na - but that pronunciation is incorrect.