Irish name - Anglicised spelling - help & opinion please!

[rachysetty]

I really love the name Aine, and my Irish mum says it's pronounced Awnyah. Mum in law has been banging on about names spelling and pronunciation difficulties (even though she has suggested a couple of Irish names she likes). Part of me wants to say bugger off, the other part wants to listen as she is a retired teacher. Also my youngest sister's name is Irish and although my mum did partially anglicise it, to an accepted alternative but her name has never quite been pronounced correctly by anyone. The alternative English spelling I have seen is Anya, but that doesn't pronounce as the name I like!!!!! I was thinking of suggesting the spelling either Onya or Awnya. What do people think? ta xx

Neither look great, but Onya is better.

Just stick with the authentic spelling. Your MIL being a teacher makes no difference.

Awful. Either spell it correctly or choose another name.

Aine is a beautiful name. People find ways to misspell every name. I would go for it and spell it the right way. People will learn. It means radiance and is fairly popular in Ireland.

I'm rubbish with Irish name and would never have known how to pronounce this without being told....but if I were a teacher, I'm sure I'd be told soon enough, and Aine does look prettier written down....

Don't forget the fada!

I'd stick with Aine.

Stay with Aine. Awnya and Onya both look like you can't spell the name you've chosen. Like Shivorne or something.

I say Anya and Aine completely differently, so don't compromise on the way the name sounds if you know what I mean . They're both lovely names. I went to school with quite a few Aines (NI), I haven't heard it used as a baby name in a long time. I don't think there's any in my daughters primary school.

I wouldn't mess about with the spelling, it just looks a bit disrespectful.

Stick with Aine, it's lovely. Once people are told they'll soon remember.

It will constantly be spelt and pronounced incorrectly - for her entire life, unless she lives in Ireland. Unavoidable.

Agree with wriggles rock Anya is not pronounced the same as Áine, stick with the proper spelling its lovely

Would you think about Orla?

Onya is a brand name play on words Only a.

I would like to say, if people can learn to pronounce Gaultier and Tchaikovsky, they can learn to pronounce Aine. However, I have lived (and continue to) with misspelling and mispronounciation of my Irish name for the half of my life that I have lived in the UK.

Aine is a lovely name.

NOOOOOOO, don't change the spelling!

It's two syllables, on-ya. It's not difficult.

We never seem to get these threads about Asian names, or African names. It annoys me, in this multicultural age people need to - as is common parlance in NI - wise up.

Áine is a beautiful name.
Don't mess with it.

It's a beautiful name. Put in the fada as thats what gives it the particular sound in the name. Maybe when people see the fada they might assume it's not pronounced as obviously as Aine is?

As pointed out above it is Áine not Aine - please don't anglicise it!

I actually have am anglicised version of an Irish name and people struggle with it anyway as it's a weird sounding name they're not used to

My name is Aine.

Please for the love of GOD don't bastardise my lovely name in such a spectacularly idiotic fashion.

If you love it, use it.

If you don't love it enough to spell it properly use something else.

Fwiw I've lived in the U.K. for 13 years and my name rarely presents an issue. If and when anyone gets it wrong I correct them and they get it right next time. It's really not that much hassle.

Anya is a gorgeous name. That's what I would go with but it's not my decision!

Spell it correctly. If people handle names like Nevaeh no idea why Aine would be an issue.

Its lovely as it is. Don't listen to MIL.

As far as I'm aware, it's usually anglicised as Anya. If that's actually a different sound though (ignorant non-Irish here) then I'd stick with Aine. People may well mispronounce it outside of Ireland, but that didn't stop Niamh from getting popular in its un-anglicised form.