Countdown is on... Aoife or Fiadh??

[mika2]

Hi, with 4 weeks to go I'm starting to panic about names. I'm Irish and DH is English so after months of heated debate we've finally agreed on an Irish name for DD1 and narrowed it down to;

-Aoife (ee-fa) - really like it and our "safe" option but worried it's very overused. Feel like I'm tripping over Aoife's in Ireland and becoming increasingly popular in the UK? Also have a (not very close) cousin with the same name and mum's best friend has an Aoife (so can see imagine lots of "your Aoife" or "my Aoife" confusion between them)

Or

• Fia/Fiadh (fee-a) - means deer in Irish and I saw 3 deer while pregnant so thought it was a sign :) DH liked it, but now keeps saying it sounds like "fear". Does it?? DD will grow up in the UK and don't want her tormented for years in playground with "what are you afraid of" etc.

Also don't want to use one as middle name in case we have a DD2.

Thoughts please??

Sorry, should have been more specific - Choctaw.

Aoife

Definitely Fiadh. AOife if too popular. I only know one Fiadh. An Fiadh Rua boom boom. NO seriously, it's lovely, I like it.

Aoife really is popular over here. I know loads in North London. Fiadh on the other hand is brand new to me and I think is lovely.

Mika, what about Siún (Shoon). That is very pretty I think. I also like Fraoch, it's Irish for Heather. It's pronounced FRAYoch, so if you like Freya you might like Fraoch

I actually think both the names are quite pretty, but I agree with the evaluations. Aoife is overused and Fiadh is a pronunciation issue.

Are you planning on raising your DD in England? If so, would it be viable to use an English sounding name as the first name and one or both of your favourites as a middle name?

Fiadh is nice and definitely more unexpected (and agree with pps that I've known a couple of Sophias who are Phia for short) but Aoife will be much more "accessible" to an Anglophone audience.

Siun is a great name. I know a really lovely Siun.

I prefer aoife.

I like Fiadh, although I have a Sofia and she is Fia. I know what you mean about the Fear pronunciation. I had never thought about it, but my husband mentioned the way some people pronounce Sofia as Sufear - I'm just waffling now and as much use as a chocolate teapot . Aoife is lovely, I just know a lot.

Fiadh is lovely. Aoife is incredibly popular, but then it is a nice name and a bit more accessible than Fiadh because of its popularity iykwim.

How about Saoirse? (Seersha)

utterly biased as I have an Aoife and I just adore the name

Afric?
Dearbhla?

Aoife very popular and too similar to Ava Evie etc to me. Fiadh does sound like it should be short for something.

I also really really like Saoirse.

Saoirse / sorcha is really nice too.

What about

Trea? Pronounced Tray-a?
Roisin - ro-sheen
Grainne - graun- ya
Siofra - sheef-ra
Rionagh- Ri-o -na

Forgot about Tara or Tierna too.

If you want an Irish deer-related name then Sadhbh/Saibh/Sive would be perfect. That was the name of Fionn MacCumhail's wife who was turned into a deer by an evil spell and then transformed back into a woman long enough to marry Fionn and become pregnant with his son, Oisin, but was then transformed back into a deer again and was lost forever to Fionn.

Personally Fiadh doesn't work for me as it's not a 'proper' name as such. It would be like calling your daughter River or Summer or something in English.

Sadhbh on the other hand is a 'proper' Irish name and once non-Irish speakers get past the spelling they can pronounce it pretty easily.

Sadhbh

I totally agree about Sadhbh, it is beautiful when you hear it. Here's another one that travels easier :
Alba

And that's pronounced phonetically as well.
Search for it on babynamesworld parents connect, also means sunrise in other languages.

I like Sadhbh, but DH can't get past the spelling and don't want to Anglicise it... Might be able to talk him into Aoife Sadhbh though.

Going off Fiadh now - it is a bit of a "made up" name and hadn't though about it sounding like a nickname for Sophia.

Just had another big row chat this morning and although DH has agreed to go with an Irish name, he still thinks that giving the baby an English name (i.e. Olivia, Annabel) would give her a better start/more opportunities growing up in the UK i.e. in job interviews etc. His theory is that we should pick as posh a name as possible as DD will be judged on her name :(

Well, let me tell your husband that I have a very Irish name with a very Irish spelling which does not sound the way it looks and i was born and bred in England. I have never had a problem getting interviews or jobs. In fact, I've done quite well in my career so far. I'm sure it has nothing to do with my name but all to do with my education, experience, etc. etc!!!! My name has NEVER held me back.

No offence but he is talking codswallop :)

is your dh Katie Hopkins :o

your dd will stand out from all the amelies sophias Eva eve avas. giving her a better chance if anything!

What if you went for 'dear' instead of 'deer'? Maybe there are other names that you can consider?

Alannah means 'darling'

Orla Niamh Maeve Siobhán Fiona Caitriona Aine Ailish Ciara Any of these?