Should I call my daughter Aoibhín in England?

[lovebeingmuma]

Will my daughter hate me for calling her a name no one can pronounce?

I wouldn't. She will be forever having to spell her name to everyone, always, every time, forever..............

Just don't...........

@lovebeingmuma according to google it is pronounced Eeven!! not Aiveen

Yes I don’t see why not, there’s lots of Irish names used in England, my sister was born in Ireland and now lives in England and her name is Siobhan, I know lots of Caoimhe and saoirse too, yes perhaps the first few weeks of school/nursery people might mispronounce but once they’re corrected it’s ok and it’s unique here which is better than being the 10th Layla or Dolcie in her class

Its E veen. Don't give her an irish name and then mispronounce it. She'll get a hard enough time in the uk and then a worse time in ireland if she visits for not knowing how to pronounce her own name properly.

That’s interesting. I know about 4 Aoibhíns in Ireland and all are pronounced Aiveen…surely all of them plus Aoibhín garrity can’t be pronouncing it wrong???

Were you born and reared in Ireland? I'm asking because that name is pronounced Ee-veen, so where did you get Ay-veen from?
If you call her that, her name will be pronounced differently to what you think in both countries.

Please don’t. I’ve had 70 years of having to spell my Welsh name to people in England. To be fair to my parents the plan was for us to stay in Wales but Dad had to come to England for work.

A lot of people are getting the two names mixed up, yes. It doesn’t make it right though. Please don’t add to it!

Plus Aoibhin Ní Shuilleabháin who was an RTE presenter? she pronounces it Aiveen??

Given the sister's name, my first thought is that the two are quite similar. But then I had a friend who was one of four girls whose given name initials were M.A., the same as their Dad, and it caused a lot of confusion when the post turned up, so maybe I'm overreacting.

It’s a beautiful name, I say go for it. It will be a lovely connection to her Irish heritage and English people can just learn something new :) I’m in the north of Ireland and we all would say Ay-veen, not Eeveen - maybe it’s a provincial difference? Like Caoimhe can be Keeva or Kweeva?

There is absolutely nothing wrong with naming a child from their own culture, ever. I would go for it and having a similar name, the people who aren't arsed about pronouncing it properly are dicks and my name acts as a decent litmus test for wankers and racists.

I know at least 4 Aoibhín/ Aoibhinn/Aoibheann and all pronounce it Ay-veen, but I know aoi is pronounced ee.
Go with what you want. I'd take what MN says on baby names with a pinch of salt! Unless you're calling your baby Lily/ Evie... then no one will know how to pronounce it & even then they're too popular 🙄

Please don’t. I have a fairly common Irish name, and my childhood was hell. Constant teasing, nobody tried to say or spell it properly. Just don’t.

But Aoife is Eefa, so why is Aoibhín not Eeveen?

Love it. I am a teacher - if I don't know how to pronounce a name I either ask a fellow teacher if they know or google it. Failing that I say before I do the register 'if I say your name wrong just correct me'.
Kids have always been fine with that and one I know I am fine. Other than when I had a Sorcha and a Saoirse in the class and kept getting them the working way round.

I’m not remotely Irish, nor do I spent time there, and I nearly got it. I think after the first few goes most people would manage it

People will get used to it and then when they know, they know! Use it. It’s a beautiful name.

I have a ridiculously bog standard name (think susy type of thing) which is also on my email address, yet still English cunts insist on spelling it wrong. I also have a slightly weird surname which I have to pronounce very carefully and then spell out loud, that’s actually less problematic as people don’t assume they know and I always know to help them.
Shit happens and the English seem to feel entitled not to be challenged in this area. As an English cunt myself I’m happy to learn and can tell you that some people are rubbish in this respect.
Yes it will be irritating for her sometimes but honestly how often do we have to have someone read our name before hearing it? At school, in court…she may choose an anglicised version. Defo work out if you have the pronunciation right though, getting it wrong would be cringe. I know people who did this with their baby and a Welsh name and yeah, it wasn’t great 😂

I am dyslexic and names like this fill me with panic. I really struggle to remember how to say them, let alone spell them.

If she has Irish heritage then of course it’s fine!. I have met plenty of Irish ladies over the years and have learnt to pronounce their names without issue. My Dd also has a non English name and she has got used to telling people the pronunciation and it doesn’t seem to bother her. If your DD didn’t have Irish heritage then it would be a bit odd!

I would guess it is pronounced ay as in hay veen as in been - is that right?

It's lovely. As someone with a fairly unusual and always misspelt and mispronounced named it will be annoying, but it's always an ice breaker when you meet someone new so not all bad. My main reason for not using it would be it looks and sounds too similar to Aoife.

@lovebeingmuma I have had 70 years of having to spell out my first name and it is not a rare name. just 10 letters in it and everyone will know someone with my name but no one seems to know how to spell it!!!

I like it. I guessed completely wrong, but that’s on me rather than on someone else to not use a name from their culture just because I’m ignorant.