irish baby girl names

[DeborahRoss26]

Hi ladies :) im expecting a baby girl at beginning of september. And im thinking of using either Aoife.. Caoimhe.. Saoirse, 1 of those 3. I love irish names my middle names Siobhan. What do you think if those 3 names? And any suggestions?

I adore the name Saoirse. I know in NI it's pronounced Seersha, and in ROI Sersha, either way is lovely.

Caoimhe is pronounced Kee-va? That's very pretty too. Aoife (Ee-fa?) is becoming more well-known, I think one of the Saturdays used that name. They're all nice. Maybe wait till she comes along and see which fits her best?

I'd have loved to have used Dervla but DH wasn't keen.

My dd2 is Róisín. I tend to call her Rosie.

Aoife is lovely

Love these names. Also Orla and Emer are lovely.

Really really dislike the name Saoirse. It's the name of a republican local newspaper in Belfast. What about Síofra? not crazy about that for different reasons mind you.

I like Roisín. Aoife is just too popular. It has been popular for a long time an is a very safe, classic choice because of Aoife from the Legend but I am bored with Aoife. It's like Kate I guess it just never goes away.

Caoimhe is ok. It is a pretty sound but everybody would struggle with spelling.

My favourite Irish girls names are Maeve, Orla, Clodagh.

As your middle name is Siobhan, what about Siún for your baby?

Clodagh

Love these, also (can't type fadas)
Orla
Fionnuala (Nuala)
Siun
Roisin
Ailbhe
Aisling

X post!

I love Aoife

agree about 'Saoirse' i think it was a republican group in London too.

DD was almost Saoirse, but in the end we went for a much more conventional name.

As long as you at aware of the political connection to the name and are prepared to justify the use then I think go ahead. A lot of people will not be aware but for some it will cut to the bone. Similar to the use of Jemima in the USA.

It is avoided because of its associations with slavery. "Aunt Jemima" is the equivalent of "Uncle Tom"

I love the name Saoirse and have spent time living in the Republic of Ireland and never heard of any negative associations of it. Depends where you live I guess, Northern Ireland may be more aware of such things.

If you live in mainland uk then a popular Irish name like Aoife may well be easier than a less well known one.

I like Ailish and Mairead

Maeve!
I hate any of those Caoimhe, Caoilfhinn names - they sound so whiney (or maybe the Caoimhe's I knew were just whiney)
Cara
Aoife is lovely and spelling could even be phonetic (Efa) if she gets fed up spelling it out for people.
I think Roisin is too popular - there must be 10 in our local school of 200 pupils.
Aine (Awyna)

I'm in Dublin and I wouldn't consider Saoirse for reasons mentioned above.

Interesting, I don't associate Saoirse with Republicanism at all. I doubt many people who use the name do anymore either. I think of a more hippyish type of 'freedom'! To me it's a very middle class Irish name.

I pronounce it sare-sha, although seer-sha and ser-sha are legit too.

love love love Roisin!

I'm in the mid-west of Ireland & you'd be looked at sideways for using Saoirse (which is pronounced sare-sha here too) because of the above mentioned reasons.

When I first lived here and was unaware of how Irish names are pronounced I misheard someone's daughter's name as Saoirse when it was actually Sorcha. I got a very stern correction & an explanation as to why her daughter was very definitely not called Saoirse!

I actually think it's a beautiful name.

Caoimhe is lovely too. It's pronounced Queeva where I live, rather than Keeva.

Aoife is my favourite Irish girl's name, and was on the list if I'd had a DD.

duffle I thought Aoife could be spelled phonetically as Efa,however it was pointed out to me it's a Welsh name pronounced Air-va (roughly).

How confusing!

I'm Irish, living in London, as are a lot of Irish young people of my generation. My first name is not Irish, but a lot of my friends living here are middle-class Dubliners with names of the Caoilfhionn variety. I really do thank the stars that my parents didn't burden me with a name that I have to explain every single time a stranger asks, and that realistically, no one can pronounce. My friends have fake English names that they use when they're short of time.

Personally, I prefer names like Una, Mary, Bridie, Kitty, Maud, Sadie (BOD shout-out there). I realise that these names aren't everyone's cup of tea, and aren't exclusively Irish, but they're the names of my grandmothers' generation, and are, for me, a far stronger link to my Irish heritage than the Lasairfhionas of this world.

All that said, I do like Naoise ('Neesha') or Banbha ('Banva')

I met a Lasairfhiona recently! That's one tricky mo-fo of a name to be stuck with, even in Ireland.

I'm a bit blah about Irish names, they're so unexotic to me but I can appreciate that people from other countries see them as fresh.

Out of your choices Caoimhe is my favourite.

Other irish names I like are Cliodhna (pron Klena) and Caoileann (pron Keelin.)

I am in N.Ireland and I wasnt aware that Saoirse had those connections.