Áine (Irish - pronounced onya)

[FrazzledCareerWoman]

Yes or no... obviously no one will read it correctly..: but I love it

not for my hypothetical last chance baby number3 that I might not even have

I’m in NI and awnya and Onya are the same pronunciation. (As is Grainne)

It's not pronounced Onta, it's pronounced Awn-ya. HTH.

Oh and Dawn and Don are the same too.

@FallonCarringtonWannabe

Im watching This Way Up tonight and they definitely say onya. I know a child who it is pronounced as I would say it as awn ya

That's the joke. That English people pronounce it wrong. It's an in-joke for Irish people.

Maybe it’s just my accent so. Caoimhe (Qwee-va) Saoirse (Seer-sha) Róise (Ro-sha) all end in “a” inside my head

@FrazzledCareerWoman

How is awn-ya a different sound than on-ya? Slightly longer vowel maybe.

Awn rhymes with yawn. On doesn't.

I find it very moany sounding like, Grainne. It also sounds crap in a Manc accent. We have a lot of traditional Irish names (and many nationality names) here though and people wouldn't blink at it. So may depend where you live.

@StrychnineInTheSandwiches

Awww - as if it's 1950 and you've just spotted the parish priest arrive in the parish dance hall to ruin everyone's fun

Nyagghhhhh - as if you're elbow deep in a cow's birth canal in the middle of a bitterly cold winter's night

That sums up an Áine

@chickenpie1984

I know several and pronounce is Ann-ya.

No, you're just pronouncing it wrong, and they're being polite.

I like Áine but as other people have said, I'd pronounce it with an awn rather than on sound. I don't think pronunciation will be a problem in England; it's a pretty simple sound that most should only need to be told once.

@480Widdio

Lovely name,but it is very common in Ireland these days.

Really I haven’t heard of any new babies being called that.

I am from Belfast and have heard Anya for Aine also Awnya and Onya sound identical in an NI accent (see also Dawn and Don, totally identical!)

Definitely Awwn-ya. I love it but most British people struggle with pretty much any Irish name

Have you come across Aileen? Ai as in Mae

Ay-leen

Aisling - Ashling is the anglicised version. Is you spell it Ais in the U.K. everyone calls you Ay-sling

@DDMAC,showing my age,I am thinking of 30years ago!

😂 I have a family member called Áine roughly that age

@PieMistee

I find it very moany sounding like, Grainne. It also sounds crap in a Manc accent. We have a lot of traditional Irish names (and many nationality names) here though and people wouldn't blink at it. So may depend where you live.

I feel the same about Grainne, its my least favourite Irish name and Áine has the same sound. I always think of the Áine asal, lusaí luch agus Pól Peist books from primary when I hear Áine as well, so in my head when someone says Áine I finish it with asal.

Áine - Awnya quite like it but I prefer the v similar but easier Anya. Or Enya

If I met someone called Enya I'd be thinking 'SAIL AWAY, SAIL AWAY, SAIL AWAY...' Hopefully I'd just think it.

Ha ha yeh, congratulate yrself for not saying it out loud only to then realise you're hmming it!

How is awn-ya a different sound than on-ya? Slightly longer vowel maybe.

Do you have an Ulster accent?
If yes, then the difference is very slight.

If not, then there's a big difference. One is a long vowel (AW) and one is a short one (short O).

How do you say the word 'lawn'?

My accent is "bbc" English lol
So.. Dawn & Don are slightly different but only just .

Not a fan of the name Anya. It seems completely different to me.

Dawn and Don are definitely identical in some accents (many American accents, for example). It's known as the "caught-cot merger".

Anyway, I love Áine, it's a lovely sound and a great mythological link. I teach a student called Áine at the moment actually.

Too similar to aine which is French for groin.

Weeping at people disliking Gráinne. Grá (Early Modern Irish "grádh") means love. The ending -inne usually means "-ness". So I always think of it as meaning loveliness.
It does also mean granite, grain, and ugliness. But it was a popular name and I don't think mothers call their babies horrible names. The original might have been "Gráidhne".

I rather like it and I'd say even between Irish people there's regional differences in how strong they pronounce the sounds in names like this. We have a Grainne in our team and they all say it slightly differently!
That said, I'm very confused how people think Dawn and Don are the same!