How would YOU say this name?

[3luckystars]

It's a girls name, just looking for your first reaction to it if you have a minute to reply. I don't want to pick a name that would cause confusion if she lived in another country. Thanks very much.

Aoibh

Or does "eefa" have an e on the end?

I do think people with no knowledge of Irish phonetics would struggle.

No if your Irish spell it the Irish way. You don't see (for example) Chinese people spelling their names the English way incase "we" don't understand it!

Irish is as common now as any other & there's no need to squash your heritage just because others can't grasp it.

I'd guess Eve based on other Irish names I know. If you want to use the Irish spelling then go for it :)

I'd know that was Eve, but only because I'm a Siobhan! Beautiful name x

Eve.

I'd spell it the Irish way. I have a foreign surname and once I've said to people "it's pronounced x" it's not an issue mostly although the odd person still can't say it

Eve, but I'm another from the Scottish highlands. Aoibh is pretty.

You don't see (for example) Chinese people spelling their names the English way incase "we" don't understand it

Every single chinese person I have known (which is a lot, but none of them live in China) also have an "English" name which they use with non-chinese speakers. They have zero expectation of you being able to say their names properly, let alone spell them!

Eve guessing based on the beginning of Aoife and the middle of Siobhan.

Eve.

But it's a kind of made up Irish name isn't it? I've noticed a trend for taking an ordinary name like Molly for example and then turning it intoan Irish name by spelling it Maillí. Seems a bit pointless to me.

*You don't see (for example) Chinese people spelling their names the English way incase "we" don't understand it

Every single chinese person I have known (which is a lot, but none of them live in China) also have an "English" name which they use with non-chinese speakers. They have zero expectation of you being able to say their names properly, let alone spell them!*

Yy. In fact most chinese names i know are fairly straight forward spelling wise, because they've been "translated" from chinese characters into western alphabet. But the chinese language is so different, it's physically difficult for a non- chinese speaker to say. I have a friend called song, simple you think, but listen closely and it's more "sng", with a very nasal tone.

O/p if you live aoibh go for it. People learn. my dd has a straightforward, phonetic name, but people still get it wrong first time 70% of the time!

Yeah Chinese people always pick an English name when they moved to the UK. Its funny as they tend to pick really old fashioned names, often flower names for the girls.

Lol at "made up irish name"

You do realise gaelic is an actual language? People from ireland spell their names according to their rules, most "irish" names have been anglicised, not the other way round!

Like saying paulo or marco are made up to sound itslian.

Eve. But I'm Irish

I think seeing as Eve is such a lovely name anyway, just use Eve.

Eve, I live in NI, I doubt any of my English relatives could guess it.
I have some Irish names for dcs but in this case would choose Eve spelling personally.

Thanks for the lesson Micah.

Of course I realise Gaelic is an actual language. In Scotland.

In Ireland we refer to it as plain old Irish or as Gaeilge.

What I'm saying is that there's a recent trend for Irish people to take a non Irish name, give it an Irish spelling and then pretend it's an authentic Irish name. Eve as a spelling has been around a hell of a lot longer than Aoibh. 'Aoibh' is a bit youneek for my taste.

Youneek and made up? Its from the children of Lir! Its ancient, literally.
Bloody hell.

I can tell its irishbut would have to google. I'd guess Ava or Eva if I had to.

I read it as 'Aye-oh-be'

I would guess it was Irish, but would have no idea how to pronounce it (well, before this thread!) . And my dd is an Eva!

Okay I will put my hands up and say sorry for accusing Aoibh of being a 'youneek' name!

I'd still go with Eve though.

And there are a lot of ordinary names that I think are needlessly repackaged with an Irish spelling. I've met an Archí!

I read Eve, but I went to school with a girl called Aoife, so I used my powers of deduction to work it out! If you're Irish and like the Irish spelling, use it! People that need to know it will only ask once. People with names like Roisin and Siobhan get by alright.

I would have guessed Abby, but also guessed that wasn't it!

Would never, ever have thought of Eve.

I like Aoibh/ Eve. But literally 5 out of the last 6 baby girls I've known to be born are Eva, Eve, Ava, Aoibh, Aoibhe or something-Eve/Ava/Eva.
But I guess that's because it's lovely!

I wouldn't of known, whatever i tried to say sounded nothing like eve