Aoife?

[clairemiss79]

Hi, I need some mumsnetter advice. I'm irish but I live in England and I love the name Aoife for my baby. I'm worried it will be constantly mis spelt and mispronounced throughout. Can anyone help on this? :)

Beautiful name, and yes you will have to explain it, but only once. Irish names are becoming increasingly popular, lots of little Niamh and Aines about round here.

It is a very well known Irish name in England so I expect a lot of English people will know how to pronounce it but I also expect you will get a few people calling her A-owe-fee.

Lovely name.

Really like it!

How is aines pronounced?

Oh and aoife is lovely btw

I've seen this name written down but I've got no idea how to pronounce it.

Ee-fa

Homeis : it's like ee-fa. Mumof3: aine is pronounced awn-ya

I love it,it's my favourite girls name

Oh I don't like that

It's like any a bit said very poshly!

I have given all my children irish names and although they were tired of constantly spelling and correcting pronunciation when they were smaller they love the fact they have unusual names now

It's a very pretty name.

You will probably need to spell and pronounce it a fair bit initially - but once everyone gets used to it no one will think anything of it- that's if my experience with 'Niamh' is anything to go by?

Really dislike it and do not understand its popularity

But if you like it then use it

I first heard this name about 10 years ago when I worked with a beautiful Northern Irish girl, she only had to explain the pronunciation once before everyone got it. These days I think it's much more popular, and a lot more people would immediately know how to pronounce it, and I still think it's a beautiful name. I would consider it myself except that I really think you need to be Irish to use it, and I'm not!

I agree with pissedglitter. Don't get it at all. Sounds horrible. Sorry.

I also agree with pissedglitter.

Also, I can't help but hear it in an accent. E fa Elephant.

I don't like it at all. It will be mispronounced and misspelled. At least Niamh is pronounced starting with the N sound so it gives you a clue. Aoife doesn't start with the A sound or anything resembling it - ee is the first sound so yes I do think it's confusing and I have to look at that sort of name carefully before saying it. I avoid verbalising names if I am unsure of the pronounciation.

There are loads of threads on here from people who are (say) French looking for baby names which work in French and English easily, like Lucie or Emmeline etc. OK, you are Irish but why don't you want a name that works in the place you live as well as in Ireland? MNers are more highly educated than the rest of society on average so more MNers are going to find Aoife easy compared to everyday people you will encounter.

It's very pretty but your DD will spend her life explaining how to pronounce it. My friend an Aoife and she is repeatedly having to explain how it pronounced and having to spell it out on the phone.

Aoife is a lovely name! :)

People will remember how to pronounce her name even if they only hear her name once! Spelling may be a little more of a problem, and as missbluebird has pointed out, she probably will have to constantly spell it out for other people. Mind you, most people struggle with my name and it is almost phonetic

It's becoming a lot more common in England.

It does my dyslexic brain in totally, so does Niamh, but both are really pretty names.

And in any case I can't spell Charlotte or Eleanor reliably, so there isn't much hope for me.

I love the name Aoife! It will probably be mispronounced, but don't think that matters really.

I adore the name Aoife, to me it looks and sounds beautiful. It is very popular here in Ireland, but in England it would be much more unusual.

I like the idea of using a name that reflects your cultural heritage, so I think you should go for it if you love it. People not familiar with it will soon get used to it once they hear how it's pronounced. Anyway, as Irish names go it's not a particularly difficult one.

Too close to Eva for my liking