Aoife or Orla

[Baby2Sep22]

not long to go and we need to decide between

Aoife Lily
or
Orla ... (please suggest middle names)

Lily is a family name but I don’t think it goes with Orla and their are no other family names we would want to use.

Oh should add - living in the UK!

So how do you pronounce Orla then?

This is the trajectory of Aoife in England and Wales since 1996 - massive increase in popularity recently:

Some people are neither rude or ignorant but struggle with names especially names that aren't spelt how they sound/sound how they are spelt (in their language)

I think those people are likely in the minority, the majority of people once told how to pronounce a name should be able to repeat it, regardless of how it looks written down.

Or-la, but to Irish ears it sounds all wrong when someone with a non-rhotic accent doesn't pronounce the R, making it Aw-la.

Thanks

Said how it looks, except in many English accents it’s pronounced without the rhotic R and comes out as “Aw-la”

@FartOutLoudDay , should perhaps, but you'd be surprised. Some people just can't.

I wouldn't let that put me off using a name if I loved it, but I get annoyed at misspellings of my name. It's probably just sloppy typing but it's something like the equivalent of spelling Lois as Lios, and I get it a lot.

Love Orla

Orla Charlotte
Orla Elizabeth
Orla Catherine
Orla Ruby
Orla Sadie
Orla Sophie
Orla Niamh

I have no idea how to pronounce Aoife...I'd take a guess at Ay-fee. Orla is pretty.

Ee-fa

Aoife. Lovely name.

@Sboncen as a fellow tricky named person I sympathise!

Agreed. We had an Aoife enrolled at school and nobody had any idea how to pronounce it - the mother got a bit huffy when she had to tell us.
Saying that I know of an Orla spelled Orlaith and I'd no idea that was the same name 🙄

Think yourselves lucky you didn’t have a Caoimhe!

Aoife is a much nicer name than Orla

@FartOutLoudDay , but my name isn't tricky. It's phonetic. It's not even unusual, just not much used these days.
It isn't Lois but it is something equally straightforward, probably more so.

Does anyone remember the Vicar of Dibley episode where she was introduced to a lady called Aoife and she compared it to "heifer" as she didn't like her? That's all I think of when I see that name unfortunately

@FartOutLoudDay my niece is Órla Caoimhe! Cousin’s daughter is Órla Róisin.

I love Aiofe but I think Orla is easier in England

Orla Rose?

I can never understand the difficulty with Irish names people have in the UK.
It's a multicultural society and there are far more difficult names from other cultures/ethnicities being used in the UK.

Yes, clearly some people really hate having a name that other people fine hard to spell/ read. I have an Irish name and have lived in lots of countries outside Ireland. Never bothered me. I love having a name connected to my heritage. I don’t usually correct people on pronunciation unless it’s going to be an ongoing interaction. The only thing I do find annoying is - why don’t people just ask how to pronounce it if they don’t know? That’s what I do when I come across a name I can’t pronounce. I also often ask people (e.g. receptionists) if I can write down my name for them, because they often get in a muddle if I just call it out.

My daughter is named Orla and we live in England, most people pronounce it fine.

I wanted to call DD Órla (Irish blood in UK) until I read this. Without the fada it’s Orla which means vomit and who uses the fada in the UK? www.irishtimes.com/opinion/letters/cso-what-a-difference-a-fada-makes-1.3445785

I also love Aiofe but DH (English) vetoed it as he couldn’t pronounce it 🙄

Kate and William have a dog called Orla?!

Next I'll learn that William has Come Out Ye Black and Tans as his ring tone.

Lol 😂
The Queen has a corgi named Muick.. pronounced "Mick"