Aoife or Erin

[LivingLaVidaBabyShower]

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
(DH to date insists he didnt say anything names to anyone )

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

So... Aoife or Erin?

Im English. I have never been to ireland before. Sorry. One day i will

I know how to pronounce Aoife. Its a lovely name. Its not really out there as an unusual name

Not sure i can spell it without google

I much prefer Erin, but the spelling/pronunciation of Aoife wouldn't put me off, people will learn if they don't already know.

Both lovely but Erin is my favourite.

@RAFHercules

Aoife is gorgeous! Unless you pronounce it as the Vicar of Dibley did "his lovely young heifer".

This is what I immediately thought of too

Aoife is beautiful! ❤️I think it's popular enough enough in England for the majority of people to know how to say & spell it.
If you've always loved it then go for it - you'll only regret it if you don't.

I like Erin, love the spelling of, but not the sound of Aoife

Aoife is beautiful and isn't unheard of in England.

I am half Welsh with a Welsh name and my inlaws are clearly worried I'll give my child a Welsh name. Sounds like your MIL might be a bit like mine!

What you name your child is no-one's business except yours and DH's. People will learn how to spell and pronounce Aoife so if you love it, use it.

Aoife is my favourite girls name ever, so I'd go with that. I'm not keen on Erin - it's nice enough for a middle name but I wouldn't want it for a first name.

www.independent.ie/news/revealed-irelands-top-baby-names-in-2020-40134889.html
Erin came in at 41 in 2020. Aoife at 24.

It’s really up to you. There’s no point in canvassing opinions if you have a preference.

(But since you asked Aoife is a proper Irish name and Erin is a name used by English people trying to be Irish.)

My list is of Irish (Gaelic) names including Anglicisations. So Erin is the 8th most popular Irish name in Ireland, sorry if unclear. It is however a native Irish name not made up by emigrants.

I prefer Aoife OP ( said Ee-feh rather than Ee-fa).

AuntDympna is right and Erin has become more popular in ireland in the last twenty years, but it originated as a name in the Irish-American community (from an Irish word for Ireland) and still has that association for me. So Erin Walton or Erin Gravy Rich were my introductions to the name growing up, then Erin from Derry Girls more recently.
The name Aoife is an old name that became popular in Ireland once again in the 1970s.

Re the point about Erin being easier to pronounce - are you in Ireland or the UK?
I've previously noticed on these threads that some people in the UK seem to say Eh-rin, rather than Ay-rin, for Erin. So it mightn't be as straightforward as it seems, depending on where you live.

It's popular in Wales (from the Welsh word for Ireland I think?) and is pronounced more like Eh-rin there anyway afaik. Very much open to correction by any Welsh speakers

Glad you are reaffirmed in your first choice.
Now start telling your MIL how much you like Saoirse and as Saoirse Ronan is so famous your sure it would be fine in the UK....she will be glad of Aoife after that

but it originated as a name in the Irish-American community

Just to clarify, I meant it originated as a babyname in America.
Erin was used, in English, as a poetic name for Ireland before its use as a babyname though.

*baby name

I agree, it’s one of those names that has fed back in to Ireland via Irish America. Though at least it’s not Caitlin pronounced Kate-Lynne — although I suppose that counts as a name in its own right now, even if it originated in a mispronunciation.

Are there historical CSO baby names stats online? It would be interesting to see when names like Erin, Colleen, Shannon etc started being used in Ireland.

Here you go Leavisite.

www.cso.ie/en/interactivezone/visualisationtools/babynamesofireland/

@M0rT

Glad you are reaffirmed in your first choice. Now start telling your MIL how much you like Saoirse and as Saoirse Ronan is so famous your sure it would be fine in the UK....she will be glad of Aoife after that

😂😂😂

I am very tempted...
Or Caoihme!!!

To those asking. We are living in London but conceivably could move to Dublin
(with our jobs)

I told DH about the thread and we have have been laughing about "E for Erin" this morning

Starts in 1964 though so probably not what you meant?

Sorry that was for Leavisite.

@LizzieAnt

Sorry that was for Leavisite.

Thanks, @LizzieAnt.

*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.*

As above.

I like Caoimhe, OP, though the one I was at school with in the 70s was terribly whiny, which is probably why it always slightly puts me in mind of ‘caoineadh’.

Musing about whether gaeilgeoirí use Erin and Colleen as baby names…

I'm biased (and sod cup-soups) but I have an Erin. I didn't want anything that was cutesy and would suit a baby and toddler but not suit a teenager, and wanted something that was more strong woman than cute girlie as she's going to be a strong woman longer than a cute girlie (and hopefully the stroppy tween phase dies a death soon).

It suits her - but I kind of think sometimes kids grow into the names we give them - and by heck is she strong willed and stubborn and takes no shit from anyone!