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Baby names

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

Original poster

Aoife or Orla

90 replies

Baby2Sep22 · 23/09/2022 14:41

not long to go and we need to decide between

Aoife Lily
or
Orla ... (please suggest middle names)

Lily is a family name but I don’t think it goes with Orla and their are no other family names we would want to use.

Oh should add - living in the UK!

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AverageJoan · 23/09/2022 17:37

Aoife is a much nicer name than Orla

FartOutLoudDay · 23/09/2022 17:35

Think yourselves lucky you didn’t have a Caoimhe!

RaraRachael · 23/09/2022 17:34

ErinAoife · 23/09/2022 14:48

I will go with Orla as some people in the UK won't be able to pronounce Aoife correctly

Agreed. We had an Aoife enrolled at school and nobody had any idea how to pronounce it - the mother got a bit huffy when she had to tell us.
Saying that I know of an Orla spelled Orlaith and I'd no idea that was the same name 🙄

FartOutLoudDay · 23/09/2022 17:33

@Sboncen as a fellow tricky named person I sympathise!

CastleTower · 23/09/2022 17:32

Aoife. Lovely name.

FartOutLoudDay · 23/09/2022 17:32

amylou8 · 23/09/2022 17:27

I have no idea how to pronounce Aoife...I'd take a guess at Ay-fee. Orla is pretty.

Ee-fa

amylou8 · 23/09/2022 17:27

I have no idea how to pronounce Aoife...I'd take a guess at Ay-fee. Orla is pretty.

DailyEnergyCrisis · 23/09/2022 17:22

Love Orla

Orla Charlotte
Orla Elizabeth
Orla Catherine
Orla Ruby
Orla Sadie
Orla Sophie
Orla Niamh

Sboncen · 23/09/2022 17:14

@FartOutLoudDay , should perhaps, but you'd be surprised. Some people just can't.

I wouldn't let that put me off using a name if I loved it, but I get annoyed at misspellings of my name. It's probably just sloppy typing but it's something like the equivalent of spelling Lois as Lios, and I get it a lot.

FartOutLoudDay · 23/09/2022 17:02

CarlaH · 23/09/2022 16:53

So how do you pronounce Orla then?

Said how it looks, except in many English accents it’s pronounced without the rhotic R and comes out as “Aw-la”

CarlaH · 23/09/2022 17:00

JenniferBarkley · 23/09/2022 16:59

Or-la, but to Irish ears it sounds all wrong when someone with a non-rhotic accent doesn't pronounce the R, making it Aw-la.

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Thanks

JenniferBarkley · 23/09/2022 16:59

CarlaH · 23/09/2022 16:53

So how do you pronounce Orla then?

Or-la, but to Irish ears it sounds all wrong when someone with a non-rhotic accent doesn't pronounce the R, making it Aw-la.

FartOutLoudDay · 23/09/2022 16:59

Some people are neither rude or ignorant but struggle with names especially names that aren't spelt how they sound/sound how they are spelt (in their language)

I think those people are likely in the minority, the majority of people once told how to pronounce a name should be able to repeat it, regardless of how it looks written down.

Ifyouknowyouknowyouknow · 23/09/2022 16:56

This is the trajectory of Aoife in England and Wales since 1996 - massive increase in popularity recently:

Aoife or Orla
CarlaH · 23/09/2022 16:53

So how do you pronounce Orla then?

Sboncen · 23/09/2022 16:51

@Ifyouknowyouknowyouknow , in thec1990s there was a popular Sunday night tv programme where the female lead was acted by Niamh Cusack, so probably the name is familiar to more people than you think.

Went to school with a Siobhan in the 1980s and people struggled with her name - shoban, shyvonne, sigh-o-ban...Shivaun, Sibhoan etc

Sboncen · 23/09/2022 16:43

@Ifyouknowyouknowyouknow , go to the Search field and enter Aiofe if you don't believe me.

FWIW, Niamh wasn't unheard of where I'm from, and it still gets misspelt and mispronounced (Naimh and Neev)

Explaintome · 23/09/2022 16:19

I have no idea how to pronounce Aoife, couldn't even take a stab at it, which may well be my failing, but it will annoy her her entire life

pitterypattery00 · 23/09/2022 16:15

Agree with @Ifyouknowyouknowyouknow . I love both names but imo Orla doesn't sound anywhere near as nice in non-rhotic accents. So depends where you live really.

SparkyBlue · 23/09/2022 16:12

Both lovely names I think I'd go with Orla as I happen to know several lovely Orlas ( I'm in Ireland). On the second name thing for the year that is in it would go think of Orla Elizabeth it goes lovely and lily was often a nickname for Elizabeth.

Ifyouknowyouknowyouknow · 23/09/2022 16:09

@Sboncen Im not sure that’s right re Aoife - it’s definitely becoming more well known now. My 11 year old niece (living in Yorkshire) is Niamh and when she was born people didn’t have a clue what her name was, but in the last maybe 5-7 years it’s suddenly become very popular and I’d say a good number of people in England would recognise now. Aoife seems to be going exactly the same way, just a few years behind. It’s like Siobhan was in the 1970s.

Laurelshell · 23/09/2022 16:07

I have an Orla and our second choice was Aoife. In the end, it came down to Orla being easier to spell as our surname causes confusion.

I agree that it depends where you are. It really grates on me when I hear Awla or Oarla.

However, Orla is also really popular. We are near Glasgow and there's 2 in DDs class at school and 6 in her drama group!

Sboncen · 23/09/2022 15:41

get a bit thrown by it written down but once they hear it spoken they get it, unless they’re particularly rude/ignorant and can’t be bothered to pronounce it properly.
Disagree. Some people are neither rude or ignorant but struggle with names especially names that aren't spelt how they sound/sound how they are spelt (in their language)

No real issues after you told people how to pronounce.
Maybe not, but with everyone who hears/sees the name for the first time.

And I'm sure people will get the hang of it quickly enough.
Maybe, but some will struggle. Some won't hear the difference between Órla and Awla.

I have a very simple name that is phonetic in english but is not an english name, , yet it frequently gets misspelled or mispronounced.

I think Aoife will get Aiofe a lot.

Citylady88 · 23/09/2022 15:24

You could go with Orla Lilian. Aoife will be a spelling & pronounciation headache. Orla is becoming far more popular in the UK...The new Prince and Princess of Wales have even got a dog called Orla.

SirChenjins · 23/09/2022 15:18

Orla - I think it looks and sounds much nicer. As a pp said, Aoife is too similar to the ubiquitous Ella/Eva type names.