Aisling or Niamh

[SundayMorningSun]

Which do you prefer?

Aisling (Ash-ling) (means daydream, vision)
Niamh (Neeve) (means bright, radiant)

(I realise there are variant pronunciations of both, but those are the pronunciations we would be using.)

Niamh has just come out of the top 100, and was used 492 times in England and Wales in 2017.

Aisling ranks something like #1680 and was used only 18 times (this still surprises me!).

Are they both usable in England?

I love both. I'm a teacher- there are lots of girls with the name Niamh, but I've only ever taught one Aisling. You may have to tell people how to pronounce it though.

Could the Aisling results be skewed by alternative spellings? I'm in Ireland though. 3 Aislings on my class at school.

I think Aishling is lovely. I've only ever met one.

I don't actually care too much about popularity, I'm just so intrigued by how rare Aisling appears to be for a name people tend to know!

Stats for Aisling and variants -

England and Wales:
Aisling 18
Ashlin 3
None recorded for Ashling etc, so < 3

Scotland
Aisling 3
Aislinn 1
Zero for Ashling etc

Northern Ireland
Aisling 5
Aislinn 4
Zero for Ashling etc

In Ireland Aisling is at #86, with a whopping 67 births :-)

I suppose it's currently less fashionable than it was, though it was never popular enough for it to feel 'dated' (at least, not to me).

I'm surprised Aisling isn't higher up in the name stat lists. I really like it.

You’ve read the book?

IMO people think Aisling is a bit overdone. It's so well known that people think if they use it there will be 5 other Aislings in their daughter's class, etc. Niamh is seen as being a bit more "unique". I think Aisling is a bit 90s in Ireland, there were quite a few in both my primary and secondary.

I prefer Aisling but only because I knew a very annoying Niamh and she ruined the name for me 😂

I like the name Niamh but can't stand the name Aisling, although now you've said what it means it sounds pretty. It just reminds me of bossy, pasty-faced girls from the 1970s.

@banivani The character is, ahem, not unlike me...

We're all a little bit Aisling!

Prefer Niamh

I know both an Aisling and Niamh here in Essex. They are both gorgeous names.

Prefer Aisling

the school i work in has several niamhs but no aislings
england

@SundayMorningSun

I love Niamh, and would use it in a heartbeat if it went with the surname. Aisling is nice enough, but I've known so many people with 'Ash' names.

I love both names (but please spell them properly!)

both are usable, but I prefer Niamh. seems more like a real name for some reason. Also, Aisling you might get a lot of "aize-ling", while Niamh is well enough known that everyone will be able to say it, x

There’s an Aisling in my daughters class Y10).

I prefer Niamh.

They both say 1990s to me, but I'm in Ireland. They will sound much fresher in the UK.

I prefer Niamh, but not if it's pronounced Neeve. It should have a subtle second syllable.

You are pronouncing Aisling correctly though, so use that