Aoife - if not Irish?

I'm Irish and i think go for it. It's a lovely vowely name, i love the sound of it.

Completely different from using Maria, Rachel and Sarah, @polkadotclip .
Rachel and Sarah are names from the English version of the bible, and Maria has been in use in the UK for centuries.

Such an odd viewpoint.

My DCs have names that are French, Hebrew, Irish, Italian, and Greek.

As a pp said, Irish people have been settling seamlessly in the UK for hundreds of years - and the traffic goes both ways.

I am Irish and have several English and Scottish ancestors on one side. I have Irish relatives and friends living in England and Scotland.

Spell and pronounce an Irish name right if you choose it for your child, is all Irish people ask.

I think what's objectionable in all this is the implication that anything Irish is so foreign it's unimaginable for an English child. So foreign it's pretty much as alien as a Japanese name.

I think it's fine as long as you spell and pronounce it correctly.
I'm not Irish and (as far as I know) have no Irish heritage but both my girl's names have Irish connections.

A link to pronunciation for anyone wondering forvo.com/word/aoife/

@mathanxiety , nothing to do with being 'foreign'. Irish is a language of part of the UK.
There is history of attempts by the English to stamp out Gaeilge, Gaelic and Welsh languages in the UK, and the anglicisation of names was part of it.

I do find the mumsnet aversion to Irish, Scottish and Welsh names utterly tedious.

I'm Irish and have no problem with anyone using Irish names, although I'd assume some Irish heritage - no issues with that not being the case though.

Aoife is a lovely name but it does rather blend in with all the Eva/Evie/Avas.

I'm aware of all that history. I'm Irish myself. To add to your post, Ireland has only been independent of the UK for a hundred years. Up to the 1920s, the UK was the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the entire island, where hundreds of thousands of people spoke Irish.

What I want to know is how, therefore, is using an Irish name any different from using a name from an English language edition of the bible, a name originating in another culture altogether?

How is the Irish name less British than Sarah or Rachel or Maria?

@BridaBrida , on my part it's to do with the way the names were not used until fairly recently, the spellings were altered to be more acceptably English, even in my grandparents' day. Some of my grandparents were born in the 19th Century.
Registrars would write the anglicised or English version of the name.
Even the surnames were originally anglicised.

An example might be parents way back when wishing to call their baby Huw or Elin, and the registrar recording the name as Hugh or Ellen, and now someone choosing to name their child Huw or Elin but saying them as Hugh or Ellen, when they could just use Hugh and Ellen.

@mathanxiety , I thought that Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and part of the British Empire, so I'm not sure that Irish was ever British.

@KirstenBlest As a Scot, I’m perfectly aware of all that but should the actions of the British government in the 19th century really prevent Tom and Jessica from Slough from ever using a Scottish, Irish or Welsh name? Should every English person called Isla, Niamh or Sian change their name by deed poll? Names like Siobhan, Fiona, Catriona, Ciaran/Kieran, Callum and Aiden have been around for years - it’s really not a new thing.

I personally love that people want to use the correct spellings and pronunciations (hopefully!) as opposed to Anglicising them. Fancy wanting to name your child Eilidh and being told that unless you can prove some sort of Scottish ancestry, you have to call them Helen because you’re English😂

They sound completely different to my ears - and I’m not Irish!!

Irish here, not offensive or weird. If it's the name you've loved go for it. Don't worry about the Eva talk go with what you want 🙂

@BridaBrida Should every English person called Isla, Niamh or Sian change their name by deed poll?
That's not the issue, although, the spelling is Siân. Niamh is now generally pronounced as Neev not Nee-'v.

Tom and Jessica from Slough calling their daughter Anjali or Aaliyah, might be something comparable, but that introduces race and religion into the mix.

Well, you can of course choose any name you want. However, I think I'm in a minority on this thread in saying that I personally wouldn't be in favour of using the name if you've no Irish connections (I'm Irish)

FWIW, I'd say Eva as ee-va and Aoife as ee-fa, and think they sound pretty similar.
Isla has been around for a while, there's an actress called Isla Blair who's been in lots of films and TV comedies, and Isla St Clair who was on the Generation Game (prime time saturday evening show when there were only 3 tv channels) in the 1970s. Both have scottish heritage, I think.

Isn't Isla from Islay. I can think of people who say Islay (as in whisky) as Eye-lay.
I wouldn't be surprised if somewhere there is an Islay whose parents say 'This is Izlay, it's scottish'

I agree with you @EarringsandLipstick. I'm not Irish myself but have lived in Ireland for years and my DH and DC are Irish.

It seems odd to me to use Aoife with no Irish connections, not least because English people (including me) struggle to say it correctly.

I’m Irish and have never heard anybody with an English accent pronouncing Aoife correctly.

not least because English people (including me) struggle to say it correctly.

Yes, this too. My name isn't Aoife but it's an Irish name with a similar initial syllable. I have several lovely English colleagues. They say my name fine but not correctly. There just isn't a similar sound in English so despite their best efforts, it's always a little wrong!

@KirstenBlest How is Anjali or Aaliyah more comparable than actual Irish, Scottish or Welsh names (circumflexes and minuscule pronunciation differences aside 😂)?

So, if Isla’s acceptable because it’s been around for a while then presumably Aoife will be the same in a few decades given it’s current popularity? An Irish person has already clarified that Aoife is not the Irish equivalent of Eva, and Islay and Isla are both pronounced eye-la.

It will be assumed she has irish heritage.
English people will not pronounce her name correctly; I would imagine that will bother her somewhat.

So to all those saying it's not appropriate, what about the use of popular names with European roots like Sophia, or Louis if the parents aren't Italian or French (or indeed have direct links back to Ancient Greece?)

@EarringsandLipstick ,I'm with you, but my opinion is not wanted on here.
I agree with you, and I think the names tend to be trend led.

When I was born, Kevin (anglicised Irish) and Julie (french/Julie Christie) were popular names. They're nice names but seem terribly dated now.

@BridaBrida , I'm well aware that Eva and Aoife are not the same name, and that Islay and Isla (name) are pronounced the same.
I used Aaliyah and Anjali as examples of names from the culture and language of people affected by the British rule of their then country. Tom and Jessica could well be a welsh man and irish woman living in Slough.
I suspect that Aaliyah would be asked if there was an islamic connection and Anjali asked if there was an indian connection.

@twigthewonderkid, I don't think anyone has said it's inappropriate, more that they wouldn't.