Aine or Grainne

[Greendaisydays]

Aine (Awn-ya)
Grainne (Grawn-ya)

Or should we play safe now we are in England
Selene
Xanthe
Elowen
Elodie

Or what are people’s favourites. I would quite like nature or Celtic names

I love Aine but have heard it pronounced Ar-nya (London Irish family).

I'd choose Áine, and remember it needs that fada to get the correct pronunciation. However, in England she will spend her life being called Onya, so be prepared for that. It might really annoy you - it would me.

I'm not keen on Gráinne, it's a bit hard sounding.

I like all your other names, especially Elodie.

Not the pronunciation I’d recognise. I like them both as Aan-Ya and Graan-Ya

Personally I think áine and grainne are at the duller end of the Irish girls name scale. But if you love them you should go ahead and pick one, they're perfectly useable in the UK although the pronunciation will most likely be a bit off.

Selene and Elowen are both lovely and the kind of name an áine or a gráinne would think very fancy indeed, possibly even 'notiony',

Áine.

But these threads always go the same way.
For what it's worth I had two daughters with very Irish names in London. Other children and most adults were fine with their names.

@LemonRoses

Not the pronunciation I’d recognise. I like them both as Aan-Ya and Graan-Ya

where is this pronunciation from?!

á makes an aw sound in Irish.

ShoppingPrecinctPrincess. I know but I’ve never heard either pronounced that way by friends with the names or who’ve used them for their children. Maybe regional pronunciation, most are West coast, Co. Cork or Galway.

Áine.

I went to school with a Caoimhe and people managed to learn how to say and spell it. Some Irish names are well known in the UK now like Aoife, Orla and Una. Especially in London.

Elowen is gorgeous, there are so many lovely Welsh, Breton and Cornish names as well as Irish and Manx names.

Xanthe is fabulous.
Selena and Elodie are also nice but the latter is quite popular at the moment I think.

That's a strange one. I know loads of áines and gráinnes from all over Ireland and they're all awn-yas and grawn-yas.

Well - I love Selene (presuming it’s the proper 3 syllables) and who wouldn’t want to be called after a goddess
Xanthe is nice too
Ditto Elowen, tho lots of El names around...
Elodie is is pretty but bit fussy

Aine I find ok but bit dull and ploddy compared to the above. Grainne I really think is ugly. (And I do like Irish names BTW, just not these two - Oona, Aislinn?!)

Love Áine.

Not so sure on Gráinne. I know how to say it but I looks like Granny or grain.

@LemonRoses

ShoppingPrecinctPrincess. I know but I’ve never heard either pronounced that way by friends with the names or who’ve used them for their children. Maybe regional pronunciation, most are West coast, Co. Cork or Galway.

I'm from west cork and its definitely said awn-ya or grawn-ya. The fada elongates the vowel. OP I love both names and I've a friends with one of those names living in the uk newrly 10 years and she has had minimal issues. Its weird that the irish worry about this so much. I've met so many other people from different countries and cultures with far more complicated names who have been born and bred in the uk and never a second thought has been given to how others will cope with the name.

😂 at “notiony”

@CaffiSaliMali OH wanted Caoimhe and i like it too but thought it might be a step too far pronunciation wise so that’s interesting.

I like Elowen but again sister says sounds like L-O-N

Selene would definitely be Se-lee-ni

No keen on Grainne

Elowen is El-OW-en not L O N.
I suspect it will get popular and the Elle-O-N pronunciation become common and you'll have another Ellie.

Selene - is it Sel-ee-nee or Sel-een? Won't people think it is spelt Celine.
Xanthe - is it Zanthy?

I know how to spell and say Aine and Grainne (though I can't do the fada on my phone) despite not being Irish. I think Aine sounds prettier. DD is at school with a Grainne and it always reminds me of groin, possibly because the girls say it in a cross between awn and oyn somehow.
Caoimhe is lovely.
Selene, Elodie, Elowen and Xanthe are all gorgeous though and all (except possibly Elodie) quite unusual.
I love Elowen personally.

I would play it safe. I had a client called Grannie and I could never remember how to pronounce her name, all I would think was Grannie. I do like Selene or Xanthe the most. Neave (sorry not sure in correct spelling ) is a sweet name

Caoimhe is lovely, and much better known than the others if you're worried about pronunciation.

But I still like Áine best!

Are the other 4 names safe? They’re lovely names, but safe names in England are Sophie and Alice

I like Áine but I worked for an English company with an Áine on my team and none of them, from any part of the country could say her name right.
Elowen is lovely.

Aine Grace

Aine is my fave of the two - although I pronounce it Arn- yah.

Of your other choices I really like Xanthe and it has the bonus of likely avoiding the pronunciations issues of your other choices (except quite popular Elodie). Selene will be Seh- leen and Elowen likely L.O.N - so you'd have to not mind that (I think you/DD might get fed up of correcting people otherwise).

Áine. Gráinne is very old fashioned.

I like Elowen too.

What about
Lowenna
Carys
Nerys
Nessa/Neassa
Nora
Muireann