Aodhan - Aidan

[Babyboyno2]

I like Aidan but like the spelling Aodhan.
Any “Aodhan” I know is pronounced AY-DAWN in Ni but just read that’s not right?? Is that right

I think it depends on the local dialect, the only one that I know rhymes with ‘crayon’.

There’s a recurring Foil, Arms and Hog sketch with a character with the name and they seem to change between the two pronunciations. Not saying that they are an authority on Irish names mind you, or an authority on anything at all.

https://forvo.com/word/aodh%C3%A1n/
I've heard Aodhán as Ay-awn as above or as Ay-gawn/Ayagawn. I'm in the south so it would be different in NI due to dialectal differences. But
I don't think the Irish pronunciation there matches what you've said OP?

Aodh is Ay ( to rhyme with hay, day etc) where I am in the south of the country. Different in Ulster I think.
There is a fada on the second a of the name, Aodhán.
This gives an aw sound where I am but not in Ulster where á is pronounced differently.

Lots of people do say Ay-dawn or Aydan for Aodhán but I'm not sure how they can be right (ìn Irish) even taking dialectal differences into account. Dh in Irish doesn't give that d sound that's in Aidan. Aidan was derived from a Latin version of an older spelling of the name, Áedán.

Some people use the Áedán spelling today and pronounce it Ay-dawn/Ay-dan, which does make sense in Irish I think (but it would not be how it was originally said).

The link below has a lot of info on the name and pronunciation changes over time.

https://medievalscotland.org/problem/names/aidan.shtml#:~:text=The%20pronunciation%20of%20the%20Gaelic,the%20th%20sound%20in%20this.

Aodhán with the fada if you want the dawn sound.

What @TwirlBar said, pretty much. Aodhan with no fadas would be ‘AY-un’ to rhyme with ‘crayon’.

Where do you actually live? If it's england, he'll be called ay-oh-dan unless he explains the pronunciation to everyone he meets, at which point he'll be Aidan. So just call him Aidan.

From Ni, wasn’t sure on the spelling and pronunciation as I have read a lot online but any I know do pronounce it the same as Aidan which I now know is incorrect . I prefer the Aidan souding but Aodhán obviously doesn’t match it

I love Irish names. Im of Irish heritage in Scotland, lots of Irish names in family. But… when your not actually sure of the names spelling or how to pronounce it why are you actually using it? Use a simpler name OP or one you can say.

@Nap1983 i want a boy Irish name. I originally asked about how Aodhán was properly pronounced as everyone I know then has used this name wrongly. Most other Irish names I know the pronunciation

I know a few Aodháns and they all pronounce it Ay - dawn with a soft d (more tounge behind teeth than on hard palate). We are Connaught Irish.

Unfortunately, some people get names wrong. Like the notorious Aoibheann, pronounced ‘Ay-VEEN’, rather than ‘Even’, which makes no phonetic sense in any dialect of Irish. Or people calling their daughter Sorcha and mispronouncing it ‘Sore-sha’.

I know a few Aodháns and they all pronounce it Ay - dawn with a soft d (more tounge behind teeth than on hard palate). We are Connaught Irish.

Dh doesn't make that soft d sound in Irish though, that's the issue @Goodiewhemper.
Is it just that a mispronuciation has become commonplace?

@Nap1983 i like the name Callan. Uncommon here. Have you ever heard it , has it any “Irish” to it ? As I would like an Irish name

I imagine so. As with Aoibheann and others names.

@Babyboyno2 — it’s just a surname. Probably most associated in Ireland at the moment with the satirist and radio presenter Oliver Callan, or the town in Kilkenny. I’m sure it’s been used, occasionally, as a first name, but I’ve never come across it. It doesn’t appear in the stats for 2023. I imagine for most people it just sounds too similar to the more familiar Callum/Colm/Cal/ Colin.

I think you are right about the mispronunciations. The Aodháns I know are under 25.