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?

My Aoife will be 18 next month
She rolls her eyes at people who struggle with spelling her name after a time of knowing her. Has patience with new people explains its Irish and how to say it.

Her leaver hoodie says Ah Oh Eye feh so she had a little fun with it.

Ahe moved to Denmark last year to do an international baccalaureate living with my sister. She considered using her middle name (very Danish) however decided against it as. "I like my name and people can just blinking learn how to say and spell it "

As someone with a unusual name myself I at age 50 still have to spell i have never minded spelling it for people. They get it right that way. (I DO mind those who try to correct me i KNOW how to spell my name)

Of the two Aoife. Not keen on either of them.

Erin is pretty and classic.

Another vote for Aoife. Nothing against the name Erin, but I think Aoife is much nicer (just personal taste though). Aoife Erin flows better than Erin Aoife as well, I think.

Erin isn't classic. @GoodnightGrandma. It's a relatively new name and has become quite popular recently.

@MerryChristmasToYou

Erin isn't classic. *@GoodnightGrandma*. It's a relatively new name and has become quite popular recently.

As it first appeared in 1888 I’m going to disagree.

Disagree if you like. I think it is harsh-sounding and nothingy.

Aoife 's ok but because of there being so many Evie, Eva, Ava type names it's a bit samey, and the spelling probably causes problems.

Leavisite asked:
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.
The name "Erin" is an Anglicisation of a grammatical case of the name Éire. But from the 18th century anglicisations were being widely used, or outright swaps of unrelated names - Mary for Mór, for example. You might expect to see a name like "Aera", but there is nothing like that. However, the ordinary word "éirigh" is often pronounced as if it were "írigh", and that may be a clue. The names Ira and, especially, Irene were popular. I am guessing that these are substitutes for "Éire". So if you only looked for the spelling Erin, you would miss it.
Shannon just looks like Senan (Seanán) to me. It was a man's name. There's a saint.
Colleen is more complicated.

@AuntDympna

Leavisite asked: 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. The name "Erin" is an Anglicisation of a grammatical case of the name Éire. But from the 18th century anglicisations were being widely used, or outright swaps of unrelated names - Mary for Mór, for example. You might expect to see a name like "Aera", but there is nothing like that. However, the ordinary word "éirigh" is often pronounced as if it were "írigh", and that may be a clue. The names Ira and, especially, Irene were popular. I am guessing that these are substitutes for "Éire". So if you only looked for the spelling Erin, you would miss it. Shannon just looks like Senan (Seanán) to me. It was a man's name. There's a saint. Colleen is more complicated.

Interesting theory re Erin, but I very much doubt it AuntDympna.

I would think that Éirinn/Erin wasn't really used by Irish people in Ireland when naming their children in the past (from the 18th century as you mention) and hence no anglicisation was necessary. Erin was used as a poetic term for the country of Ireland when writing in English.

Irish emigrants, notably in America, began using it and it was more recently reintroduced to Ireland as a baby name.

Similarly, the name Caitlin has been returned to Ireland from abroad, with a different pronunciation (Katelyn) from the original in this case.

I agree, @LizzieAnt. @AuntDympna, where are you getting your pre-CSO list information on baby names from?

E-for Erin

That's tickled me.

Ahh yes, this is a very good point.

I have the simplest, most common name imaginable, same with the family name. I have to spell both every single time as there are a couple of variations.

Really don't worry if your DD has to spell her name, just choose a name you both love and tell her how much she's wanted and how you both love the name and love her.

Ó Corráin and Maguire say Éire was a name (also Éirnín). Not necessarily very common, and of course it may be that it became popular in the US due to people wanting their children to have a name that reflected their history in some way. Then from that other people heard the name and liked it, it's pretty. I'm not sure how many people think Erin means Ireland, outside of Ireland.

Yes, Éiru (which is Éire in modern Irish) was the name for Ireland, but was also a goddess of the Tuatha Dé Danann and Éiru could thus be used as a name. It's really very old - when it was used and when it's use died out I'm not sure.
Afaik Eirnín is thought to probably have a different etymology.

The main issue with Aoife is that it sounds like the noise you make when trying to shunt a sofa across the room.

It really doesn't - what a weird thing to say.

I personally prefer Erin. However if you've always liked Aoife I'd stick with it. You'll probably regret it if you don't.
I also would pair it up with Erin. It'll sound like E-for Erin.

• its instead of it's upthread

The main issue with Aoife is that it sounds like the noise you make when trying to shunt a sofa across the room.

It really doesn't

My friend is cakje aiofe and I really like it however she spends her entire life explaining it's "Eva with an F" 🤣

My friend gets called Yuffy by people who've never seen the name before but decide to give it a good old try. I think it's very sweet

Erin is basically an English even Welsh word.

I really really dislike it.

It's only used in a poetic way in Welsh. Erin and Erina are used as girl's names occasionallt, but I think that would be because they are phonetic, not because they were originally welsh.

Erin is probably popular in Wales now. The welsh name Elin is so much prettier.

Efa (EV-a not Eef-a) is popular in Wales, but has only been used fairly recently.

My favourite pronunciation of my DD2’s name was Oof instead of Eefa. I get a lot of Ophie like Sophie.