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Original poster

Áine (Irish - pronounced onya)

133 replies

FrazzledCareerWoman · 06/12/2021 21:21

Yes or no... obviously no one will read it correctly..: but I love it Grin

not for my hypothetical last chance baby number3 that I might not even have

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MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry · 06/12/2021 22:40

I’m in NI and awnya and Onya are the same pronunciation. (As is Grainne)

HandScreen · 06/12/2021 22:40

It's not pronounced Onta, it's pronounced Awn-ya. HTH.

MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry · 06/12/2021 22:41

Oh and Dawn and Don are the same too.

HandScreen · 06/12/2021 22:41

@FallonCarringtonWannabe

Im watching This Way Up tonight and they definitely say onya. I know a child who it is pronounced as I would say it as awn ya
That's the joke. That English people pronounce it wrong. It's an in-joke for Irish people.
TheDuchessOfMN · 06/12/2021 22:42

Maybe it’s just my accent so. Caoimhe (Qwee-va) Saoirse (Seer-sha) Róise (Ro-sha) all end in “a” inside my head Grin

HandScreen · 06/12/2021 22:42

@FrazzledCareerWoman

How is awn-ya a different sound than on-ya? Slightly longer vowel maybe.
Awn rhymes with yawn. On doesn't.
PieMistee · 06/12/2021 22:42

I find it very moany sounding like, Grainne. It also sounds crap in a Manc accent. We have a lot of traditional Irish names (and many nationality names) here though and people wouldn't blink at it. So may depend where you live.

HandScreen · 06/12/2021 22:45

@StrychnineInTheSandwiches

Awww - as if it's 1950 and you've just spotted the parish priest arrive in the parish dance hall to ruin everyone's fun

Nyagghhhhh - as if you're elbow deep in a cow's birth canal in the middle of a bitterly cold winter's night

That sums up an Áine

Grin
HandScreen · 06/12/2021 22:46

@chickenpie1984

I know several and pronounce is Ann-ya.
No, you're just pronouncing it wrong, and they're being polite.
toastofthetown · 06/12/2021 22:49

I like Áine but as other people have said, I'd pronounce it with an awn rather than on sound. I don't think pronunciation will be a problem in England; it's a pretty simple sound that most should only need to be told once.

DDMAC · 06/12/2021 22:51

@480Widdio

Lovely name,but it is very common in Ireland these days.
Really I haven’t heard of any new babies being called that.
Gensola · 06/12/2021 22:55

I am from Belfast and have heard Anya for Aine also Awnya and Onya sound identical in an NI accent (see also Dawn and Don, totally identical!)

TreadSoftlyOnMyDreams · 06/12/2021 22:56

Definitely Awwn-ya. I love it but most British people struggle with pretty much any Irish name

Have you come across Aileen? Ai as in Mae

Ay-leen

Aisling - Ashling is the anglicised version. Is you spell it Ais in the U.K. everyone calls you Ay-sling Confused

480Widdio · 06/12/2021 23:01

@DDMAC,showing my age,I am thinking of 30years ago!

DDMAC · 06/12/2021 23:59

😂 I have a family member called Áine roughly that age

luinagreine · 07/12/2021 00:35

@PieMistee

I find it very moany sounding like, Grainne. It also sounds crap in a Manc accent. We have a lot of traditional Irish names (and many nationality names) here though and people wouldn't blink at it. So may depend where you live.
I feel the same about Grainne, its my least favourite Irish name and Áine has the same sound. I always think of the Áine asal, lusaí luch agus Pól Peist books from primary when I hear Áine as well, so in my head when someone says Áine I finish it with asal.
AnFiadhRua · 07/12/2021 00:40

Áine - Awnya quite like it but I prefer the v similar but easier Anya. Or Enya

StrychnineInTheSandwiches · 07/12/2021 00:43

If I met someone called Enya I'd be thinking 'SAIL AWAY, SAIL AWAY, SAIL AWAY...' Hopefully I'd just think it.

AnFiadhRua · 07/12/2021 00:52

Ha ha yeh, congratulate yrself for not saying it out loud only to then realise you're hmming it!

mathanxiety · 07/12/2021 06:13

How is awn-ya a different sound than on-ya? Slightly longer vowel maybe.

Do you have an Ulster accent?
If yes, then the difference is very slight.

If not, then there's a big difference. One is a long vowel (AW) and one is a short one (short O).

How do you say the word 'lawn'?

Original poster
FrazzledCareerWoman · 07/12/2021 06:49

My accent is "bbc" English lol
So.. Dawn & Don are slightly different but only just .

Not a fan of the name Anya. It seems completely different to me.

OP posts:
OrangeAndYellowAndBlue · 07/12/2021 07:39

Dawn and Don are definitely identical in some accents (many American accents, for example). It's known as the "caught-cot merger".

Anyway, I love Áine, it's a lovely sound and a great mythological link. I teach a student called Áine at the moment actually.

Ceramide · 07/12/2021 09:10

Too similar to aine which is French for groin.

SeanChailleach · 07/12/2021 09:33

Weeping at people disliking Gráinne. Grá (Early Modern Irish "grádh") means love. The ending -inne usually means "-ness". So I always think of it as meaning loveliness.
It does also mean granite, grain, and ugliness. But it was a popular name and I don't think mothers call their babies horrible names. The original might have been "Gráidhne".

emmathedilemma · 07/12/2021 09:55

I rather like it and I'd say even between Irish people there's regional differences in how strong they pronounce the sounds in names like this. We have a Grainne in our team and they all say it slightly differently!
That said, I'm very confused how people think Dawn and Don are the same!