My partner and I are expecting a baby girl in the next couple of weeks and are still a long way off giving her a name. I want something quite ‘strong’ sounding and my partner is keen to give her a name that’s associated with (or at least he associates with!) her being born in late spring/early summer as it’s his favourite time of year.
I’ve come across Áine and I really like it. However, as I’ve said in my thread title we are not Irish. My partner has 2 Irish grandparents/great-grandparents and I have some Irish heritage from a few generations back, but that is it. So I was wondering if it would be considered;
a) culturally a bit insensitive
b) just plain weird
to call her Áine? If the general consensus is yes to either/both then I won’t do it… but any other name suggestions would be gratefully received! 😳
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Áine… If we’re not Irish?
bumpabroad · 19/05/2022 09:52
notreadyforthisgelatinousbooty · 19/05/2022 10:03
I like the name, but I would definitely expect someone named Áine to be Irish. I think it would be a bit strange if you're not, considering it's an authentic Irish name and not an Anglicised one. It's kind of like Pierre - nice name, but a bit weird if you're not French. If you live in England, I expect it would get mispronounced a lot, too.
OchonAgusOchonOh · 19/05/2022 10:11
I'm Irish and no, it would not be an issue to me. It's a slightly old fashioned name but I really like it. Just in case you are not sure, it's pronounced as Awn-ya, unless you are speaking Ulster Irish, in which case it is more aahhn-ya - Ulster Irish is pretty different to the rest of the country.
JenniferBarkley · 19/05/2022 10:13
Yes I'd say awnya, other friends from different areas would say oynya or occasionally something closer to onya.
I'm Irish and would have no issues with you using it, but I might wonder why you hadn't gone with Anya.
bumpabroad · 19/05/2022 10:05
Ohh, this is promising! Pronunciation wise I believe it’s ‘Awn-ya’ (so like the start of ‘awning’) rather than an Anya/Onya sound. Hopefully I am correct!
toastofthetown · 19/05/2022 10:23
I’d expect an Áine to be Irish. If you are in the UK passports don’t contain diacritical marks and these in general aren’t well used in the population as the aren’t used in English. The amount of Esmè threads I’ve seen over the years…
bumpabroad · 19/05/2022 10:05
Ohh, this is promising! Pronunciation wise I believe it’s ‘Awn-ya’ (so like the start of ‘awning’) rather than an Anya/Onya sound. Hopefully I am correct!
OchonAgusOchonOh · 19/05/2022 10:36
Some people don't bother with the fada, although these days more people will spell correctly with the fada rather than the anglicised version without the fada.
My name has a fada and a lot of people don't use it in emails etc as they are not sure how to do the fada. I always put the fada in myself but I can't get terribly excited if others don't.
toastofthetown · 19/05/2022 10:23
I’d expect an Áine to be Irish. If you are in the UK passports don’t contain diacritical marks and these in general aren’t well used in the population as the aren’t used in English. The amount of Esmè threads I’ve seen over the years…
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OchonAgusOchonOh · 19/05/2022 10:36
Some people don't bother with the fada, although these days more people will spell correctly with the fada rather than the anglicised version without the fada.
My name has a fada and a lot of people don't use it in emails etc as they are not sure how to do the fada. I always put the fada in myself but I can't get terribly excited if others don't.
toastofthetown · 19/05/2022 10:23
I’d expect an Áine to be Irish. If you are in the UK passports don’t contain diacritical marks and these in general aren’t well used in the population as the aren’t used in English. The amount of Esmè threads I’ve seen over the years…
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