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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Aoife or Erin

99 replies

LivingLaVidaBabyShower · 29/10/2021 22:48

We independently have always loved the name Aoife. (I'm irish if it matters)
In our search we also liked Erin.

DH and I agreed not to discuss the names with anyone until we'd definitively picked a name.

When we found out we were having a girl we had pretty much decided on "Aoife Erin Surname"

We rang MIL and told her we were having a girl. After the "Oooh a girl! How nice!" she went on to talk at length about how splendidly nice and spellable the name Erin was and then explain how terrible it is to have a hard to spell name Hmm HmmHmm
(DH to date insists he didnt say anything names to anyone Confused)

I then told one of my best friends about this and said asked what the names were and she said she preferred Erin too!!

I always thought Aoife was a beautiful name but am now questioning it as a name SadSadSad

So... Aoife or Erin?

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TuftyMarmoset · 29/10/2021 22:53

Aoife and Erin are both beautiful names and I think Aoife is common enough that most people know how to spell it. Do you live in Ireland?

DoesHePlayTheFiddle · 29/10/2021 22:53

Both lovely names, use them.

M0rT · 29/10/2021 22:55

I would prefer Aoife because Erin is a cupasoup, but I'm Irish living in Ireland and if an adult couldn't spell Aoife they would be unusual.
Are you in the UK? She will probably spend her life spelling it, but I wouldn't have thought ee-fa would be hard to pronounce for non Irish?
It's hardly Muireann!

LeafyBamboo · 29/10/2021 22:55

Aoife is a great name. There's an Aoife in my DS's class. Took about 0.8 seconds for everyone to learn how to say/spell it. Don't be put off!

ManifestingWisdom · 29/10/2021 22:56

Aoife.

I'm Irish if that matters as you say.

Aoife is classic, folklore, a mythological name.

I don't like Erin. I prefer Aran, like the Island! Erin is not to my taste at all.

ManifestingWisdom · 29/10/2021 22:56

yeh, showing my age here but Erin is packet soup.

BurnedToast · 29/10/2021 22:59

I like them both. I'm English and know how to spell and pronounce Aoife.

HunterHearstHelmsley · 29/10/2021 23:02

I'm English. The only Aoife I know always pronounced it "Effie:. I only found out recently that was wrong!

DuploSubmarine · 29/10/2021 23:02

Aoife is fine!

Admittedly I'm Irish and grew up with Irish names, but I now live in England and I know two little Aoifes, English born to Irish parents.

That said, yes, Erin is nice too and v easy to spell for English people.

Aoife does get lumped in with Ava, Eva, Evie and so on.

Can't go wrong though. If Aoife is the one you truly love, go for it. But Erin is nice too.

GuidingSpirit · 29/10/2021 23:03

These were the top two names on our list! Love them both. I was worried about spelling of Aoife but im English and didnt come across it as a name until i went to Ireland as an adult. We went for Erin in the end as the Irish link is through her great-grandparents on DH side and we live in London so to me it felt like a nice nod to her heritage without being too much, given the link is now a few generations back. She has a fairly common irish surname so it still scans nicely. We liked them both so much it took us until she was 5 days old to decide! 🤣 Congrats on your pregnancy!

TuftyMarmoset · 29/10/2021 23:03

I think it would be ok in the UK @M0rT - in England & Wales there were 293 baby Aoifes born last year, putting it in spot #172, just below Piper and above Dorothy.

Kollamoolitumarellipawkyrollo · 29/10/2021 23:04

Aoife is a lovely name! Although, Aoife Erin sounds vaguely like ‘E for Erin’ (Or ‘E fuh Erin’)

BeetyAxe · 29/10/2021 23:05

I agree that you shouldn’t call her Aoife Erin. Aoife alone is lovely.

Quiltsalot · 29/10/2021 23:06

Aoife. Most definitely.

Mumoftwoinprimary · 29/10/2021 23:09

Aoife is a lovely name but it is a hard one for English people to spell. (I had to check which way round the o and i go and then my spell check changed it to Alice!)

Erin is nice and - yes - easier to spell. But it isn’t perfect from a spelling point of view - I know an Eryn.

It really depends how you feel about names being spelt or pronounced wrongly. To some people it isn’t a big deal. To others (me!) it is a “nails on a blackboard” thing. (I have a name that can be spelt more than one way. Mine is by far the most common and yet soooo many people mis spell it. Even when replying to an email from me where it is RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM!)

Verite1 · 29/10/2021 23:09

I love Aoife. It’s was on our shortlist.

StrychnineInTheSandwiches · 29/10/2021 23:11

Aoife is Irish

Erin is Oirish

Pick the name you like best and stop telling people before the baby arrives! People and their pesky opinions.

Cam2020 · 29/10/2021 23:11

Both lovely names, but I agree with the PP - it does sound like E for Erin.

Does that really matter though? How often do you say both names?

ThirdElephant · 29/10/2021 23:11

@Kollamoolitumarellipawkyrollo

Aoife is a lovely name! Although, Aoife Erin sounds vaguely like ‘E for Erin’ (Or ‘E fuh Erin’)
This. It depends on accent, but that has always put me off Aoife, because 'E for' sounds the same in my accent.
Hairyfriend · 29/10/2021 23:16

I have lived/worked in 4 countries around the world and lived in England for 20yrs. I had never come across Aoife until last year via mumsnet!

Am I correct that both Aoife (eefa) and Erin start with an E in terms of pronunciation. So it would be an E.....E.....Surname sound?

Yes, its a pretty name when pronounced correctly. My worry would be that if she traveled to anywhere outside Ireland, it would be pronounced incorrectly- constantly! I say this as I have an easy to spell name- that few people have heard of! I have ALWAYS had to spell it out. Its 4 letters!!!

In my case, I wouldn't change it based on MIL's opinions on principle I would never have told her any name ideas to start with! . Erin is a lovely name and easily pronounced by most. Its obviously your choice though, but it can become so tiring and annoying to have to spell out your name every time someone asks you!

Original poster
LivingLaVidaBabyShower · 29/10/2021 23:17

@StrychnineInTheSandwiches yes! I hear you my one reservation on erin is it is a touch Oirish

Really happy i posted as I hadn't considered "E for Erin" but now i hear/see it i cant unsee/unhear it!!! 😱😱😱

Also yes yes re:Erin soup!!!

OP posts:
mrsanflowerpot · 29/10/2021 23:20

Aoife!

I'm Irish but we like in England and DD is Aoife, it's unusual but not unheard of and she loves her name (she's now 12).

twilightermummy · 29/10/2021 23:20

Aoife is so beautiful. I’m English and I know how to pronounce it!

blanketg · 29/10/2021 23:22

My worry would be that if she traveled to anywhere outside Ireland, it would be pronounced incorrectly- constantly! I say this as I have an easy to spell name- that few people have heard of! I have ALWAYS had to spell it out. Its 4 letters!!!

I never understand why you should chose an easy to spell name, particularly as people fuck up the most basic names. I grew up with & work with people from all over the world with lots of names I've never heard of, it's not a big deal.

My cousin is an Aoife, unusual here in the 80s but not now.

Seriously79 · 29/10/2021 23:23

Erin is packet soup? 🤔 what does that mean?

I never know how to pronounce Aoife - not sure that I've even spelt that right.

May be slightly biased as my Dd is Erin.