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Baby names

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Original poster

Aoife in England?

86 replies

Confusedaboutnames · 08/10/2022 19:23

What do you think about using the name Aoife in England? Have you heard of it/ would you know how to pronounce it?

My partners family are Irish and we love the name, but I’m just worried it will be forever misspelt and mispronounced?

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beneathhereyes · 08/10/2022 20:23

I only know it because ds had an Aoife in his class in junior school. Its fine to use, but don't roll your eyes every time you're asked to spell it, because it will be all the time often.

Gr33ngr33ngr4ss · 08/10/2022 20:22

eltonjohnsglasses · 08/10/2022 19:52

Don't make things difficult for your children in the future is all I am saying.

where do people who think like this live? Is there zero diversity, I just don't understand it. I regularly come across names for the first time whether it's colleagues, dc school friends, etc Why would a child having a traditional Irish, African, Polish, insert whatever name make their future difficult? 😆

Quite! All very Little England!

Got2besoon · 08/10/2022 20:18

It's pronounced Eee-Fa.
Not the same as Eva.

Notmenottodaynotever · 08/10/2022 20:16

Thanks @eltonjohnsglasses

Scautish · 08/10/2022 20:16

Threads like this always highlight how England-centred some posters are.

it’s a fabulous name OP and anyone who struggles with it, after being told how to pronounce it, is a bit of a numpty.

eltonjohnsglasses · 08/10/2022 20:15

Reality is that people can be very rude and will say things like 'that's a silly name', 'why do you spell your name like that when it's really Eva' and they like.

Where do you live? Cause it's not normal for adults to be rude about people names ime.

eltonjohnsglasses · 08/10/2022 20:13

because you meet new people all the time. If it's mispronounced every time you end up correcting a lot of people, and people generally don't like being corrected.

Do they not?

It's not very nice having people misspell or mispronounce your name.

My name isn't English, honestly if someone spells my name wrong or is unsure of pronouncing it's really not a big deal. And sometimes I don't know how to pronounce a name but I just ask or check, not a big deal...

KirstenBlest · 08/10/2022 20:10

the not they

KirstenBlest · 08/10/2022 20:10

@sandytooth , because you meet new people all the time. If it's mispronounced every time you end up correcting a lot of people, and people generally don't like being corrected.
It's not very nice having people misspell or mispronounce your name.

Not my real name obvs, but imagine me being called Kristen, Christine or Kirsty, at least they look like real names.
Reality is that people can be very rude and will say things like 'that's a silly name', 'why do you spell your name like that when it's really Eva' and they like.

eltonjohnsglasses · 08/10/2022 20:09

Kee-va or Quee-va

Notmenottodaynotever · 08/10/2022 20:01

Totally a tangent but if anyone could tell me how to pronounce Caiomhe I'd be very grateful (I have googled!)

feckingknackered · 08/10/2022 20:00

My children have very Irish names that aren't typically seen here in England, people learn them. Aoife isn't unusual really, I absolutely love it

teaandtoastwithmarmite · 08/10/2022 19:59

DD has a friend called Aoife and it's lovely. She has Irish ancestry though

gretr · 08/10/2022 19:58

It’s pretty mainstream now. Definitely go for it if you like it!

sandytooth · 08/10/2022 19:56

eltonjohnsglasses · 08/10/2022 19:52

Don't make things difficult for your children in the future is all I am saying.

where do people who think like this live? Is there zero diversity, I just don't understand it. I regularly come across names for the first time whether it's colleagues, dc school friends, etc Why would a child having a traditional Irish, African, Polish, insert whatever name make their future difficult? 😆

I know! Everytime I get a new colleague its like 50/50 if I'm going to have met one with their name before.

eltonjohnsglasses · 08/10/2022 19:52

Don't make things difficult for your children in the future is all I am saying.

where do people who think like this live? Is there zero diversity, I just don't understand it. I regularly come across names for the first time whether it's colleagues, dc school friends, etc Why would a child having a traditional Irish, African, Polish, insert whatever name make their future difficult? 😆

DramaAlpaca · 08/10/2022 19:52

It's EE-fah. The second syllable is the strong 'a' sound, as in 'cat'.

It is NOT EE-va, EE-fuh, Eath-err (wtf to this one, wrong in every way)

English people really struggle to say Aoife correctly, even when told how to say it. They go with 'uh' or 'er' at the end.

The only reason I, as an English woman can say it correctly is because I married into an Irish family and have lived in Ireland for many years.

sandytooth · 08/10/2022 19:50

It might mispronounced but is that an issue? Once you've been told once then you know how it's pronounced.

eltonjohnsglasses · 08/10/2022 19:49

eee-fuh

whiteroseredrose · 08/10/2022 19:48

In my head it is Oy-Fee. I've never heard it pronounced.

eltonjohnsglasses · 08/10/2022 19:47

Friend is called this, was born in the 80s. Know loads, really not an issue.

Autumntime2022 · 08/10/2022 19:44

So is it eeef-ah or eath-err or more like Eva?

AdInfinitum12 · 08/10/2022 19:42

FlutterbButterfly · 08/10/2022 19:35

No issue,taught loads over the years Eath-err

Is it not Eeeeeffa? With the F sound not the TH sound.

KirstenBlest · 08/10/2022 19:39

It's still fairly unusual, but popular on here.
It will get mispronounced and it will get misspelled a lot.
Do a search on here for 'Aiofe'.

NewNameNeededNow · 08/10/2022 19:36

We come across quite a few in the medical centre I work at.