Aodhán or Aidan

[ImStayingInside]

I have posted before about Irish baby names, but we have whittled down the boys name to Aodhán or Aidan … (we didn’t find out the sex, so could be completely irrelevant if baby is a girl!)
For content, DH is Irish and wants baby to have an Irish name, we live in England and I’m not 100% sure on which spelling to use.
Are we just subjecting the child to a lifetime of spelling his name out?
I am quite settled on the name, it’s just the spelling that is causing me trouble now … any opinions welcome!

I'm not quite sure from your post if they are pronounced the same but I like the spelling Aodàn. It's a nod to your husbands heritage and has character! Plenty of people have to spell out their name including me and mine is very English with only one spelling so don't let that put you off

Are they not pronounced completely differently, so 2 different names rather than just different spellings.

Aiden = ay den

Aodhan = ay yon or even ee yon

My dd has a Gaelic name with a 'dh' in it. There is definitely no 'd' sound in her name.

I'd go Aidan to give him an easier life.

if you choose Aidan, people will keep misspelling it Aiden and it will drive him nuts so definitely don't let "Irish spelling in England" be something that puts you off!

They may have the same root but they're very different names. Aodhán is pronounced ay-awn so if that's not what you're looking for go for Aidan.

The 'd' is pronounced in Aodhán (I know several!!) Correct pronunciation is 'Ay-dawn'. In answer to your question OP, I would personally go with Aidan. My son has an Irish name which is regularly mispronounced here in UK, it gets annoying for him at times.

Go for the easier English spelling. Trust me, I have experience of this, and so does my son! Too late now though!

Correct pronunciation is 'Ay-dawn'.

Incorrect.

Does your husband have an Irish surname?
Aodhán is a beautiful name and sounds good with an Irish surname like Aodhán o' SE but Aodhán Smith may not sound quite as good.

I think ay-dawn is pretty close to how I hear it pronounced in my part of West of Ireland. Definitely has a' d' sound.

Hi OP - thanks for the post! I am currently 20 weeks and suspect am having another boy..!
I am also thinking Aidan/Aodhán! (And trying to decide between..)

My husband will probably shy away from the Irish spelling however - so decision probably made. 👎

Either is lovely. where are you? If not somewhere used to Gaelic spellings of probs just go Aidan to avoid long term confusion!

@Treecreature

I'd go Aidan to give him an easier life.

An easier life for who? Shall we just stop using Irish, Welsh, Gaelic, Cornish names so that the English don't have to bother asking/learning how to say them????

Well the h after the d means it shouldn't be a hard d sound and the fada on the a means the sound would be aw rather than a, but most people will assume it's Aidan or will ask you.

Irish or Gaelic names pronounced by English speakers often revert to the Anglicised verson.

I think Aodan (no h, no fada) will give you the pronunciation you want.

Sorry- I clearly didn’t fully read your post that you’re in England with an Irish husband!

The accent (fada?) will totally throw the English (like me) but I like the Gaelic version, it's lovely, you often have to spell names out for one reason or another so I wouldn't let that put you off. Both my first name and surname have more than one version so I always have to clarify and my 'maiden' name I struggle to pronounce clearly myself!

Thanks for your comments, it’s good getting others opinions.
I never envisaged names being such a hard thing to settle on 🙈
We have an Irish Mc surname.
I will speak to my husband about the spelling/pronunciation that he prefers, because I was thinking the pronunciation would be Aidan with either spelling.

@EvilShmeevil

I think ay-dawn is pretty close to how I hear it pronounced in my part of West of Ireland. Definitely has a' d' sound.

I'm in the West and would pronounce it/hear it pronounced ay-dawn as well.

In Ulster it's EEDun.
I don't know what the h is there for. I would spell it Aodán, rather than Aodhán.

The Irish spelling is lovely, but in this case I would probably choose Aidan.

I only know two Aodháns and as far as I know they have to say "Aodhán, rhymes with 'crayon'" quite a lot, even in Ireland. So if you are based in the UK I'd go with Aidan for his convenience.

I'm Irish and thye are pronounced the same one is the Irish spelling. However in different regions across Ireland sometimes Aodhan will be pronounced Ay Don.
It's a gorgeous name and means little firey one which I think is just lovely.

@Gooseysgirl

The 'd' is pronounced in Aodhán (I know several!!) Correct pronunciation is 'Ay-dawn'. In answer to your question OP, I would personally go with Aidan. My son has an Irish name which is regularly mispronounced here in UK, it gets annoying for him at times.

It seems to be a regional thing. The politician Aodhan O Riordan says his name rhymes with crayon

I'm Irish and thye are pronounced the same one is the Irish spelling.

How can they be pronounced the same if one has a fada?