Using an Irish baby name

[Peony123]

DH & I have chosen Aiofe for DC1 (if it turns out to be a girl).

I foolishly told my mother who is Irish. She really objects as the baby will only be 1/4 Irish and she thinks that having a name which can't be easily pronounced/spelt is a burden (this is her experience of having an Irish name).

DH's name is a mainstream Irish name and he likes it - he isn't at all Irish.

One of my friends is Irish and has a difficult to spell name but says go for it.

My experience of non-Irish people having Irish names has been as a teacher and they were disproportionately poorly behaved and I am not sure if there is a stereotype of them being chavvy (I am really not trying to offend anyone with this).

Obviously there are plenty of other nice names out there which we could pick from... Any thoughts?

Ronan, not Tonan. !!

DD2 was delivered b an Irish midwife called Attracta.

Bet that name would be unique in any class in England .

There was another midwife on the ward from Ireland called Emer and another called Fidelma.

Come to think of it, the place was crawling with Irish people and the same thing happened when DS was born in Paisley.

What's up with that?! They were taking over the whole place!

Maybe we're just more caring than you British.

Attracta is not an 'Irish' name as such, but a lot of Irish people of an older generation would have been named it after a saint. It's a horrible name and I don't think it would be used now in Ireland. Fidelma is also well out of fashion. Emer is one of those classic Irish names (like Clare or Louise in England) which is never in or out of fashion.

Lovely name but always reminds of the Vicar of Dibley "Did your mother have something against consonants?"

Any thoughts on Erin? Obviously easier to spell than Aoife, but actually means Ireland so perhaps even more Irish and likely to cause offence to Irish people on a non-Irish baby? Also is it considered chavvy?

Oh, yes, Attracta and Fidelma were definitely past youth. Emer was young, though.

Don't tell Scottish DH he is British and that perhaps Irish are kinder than Scots British .

And Bernadette. It sounds like a sketch, 'Fidelma, Attracta and Bernadette.

Erin is American to my ear. I mean I understand the meaning behind it, that it's an Anglicisation of Eireann, but that doesn't seem too nice to me, although obviously that's subjective. I think there are millions of much nicer Irish names. Also, there is the soup. And gravy granules too I think.

Concepta is the ultimate Irish midwife name.

LOL @ math.

Actually, there was this tradition in Mexican culture until fairly recently of naming children after the saint's feast day on which they were born.

My dad's mother was a Maria. Maria Concepcion.

Oh, his dad had a sister. Wenseslada.

Erin is a brand of soup in Ireland

wanted to call ours Lorcan, but dh wouldnt go for it

When we were staying at a caravan park in October, we hung out with a family with three boys about the same age as ours.

The mum was Scottish and the dad Irish.

They had a son called Cillian and the way it's actually pronounced is gorgeous!

We have a Roisin, after DH's Irish maternal grandmother.

I have a 19wk old Erin and her twin is Ethan,along with a Kieran, Aiden, Niav and Liam.

My father is Irish and I wanted names that reflected an irish connection, Dh wanted names he could spell, the names chosen were also ones that we do not have 10 family members sharing such as patrick(that would be my brother, father,cousin, 4 great uncles etc)

Erin is not an Irish name and, to be honest, we would associate it more with Americans wanting to use an 'Irish' name. It's quite pretty though.

Yep, Erin is up there with Shannon and Caitlin. I do actually like Caitlin but it's supposed to be pronounce Kathleen if you adhere to the Irish pronunciation.

Was it deliberate to spell Aidan 'Aiden' and Niamh 'Niav'? I can see the reasoning behind changing the spelling of Niamh I guess, but not Aidan!

Sal321 - I have an Erin, it means "Ireland", but as swanandduck says it's not actually an Irish name. But my other two have traditional Irish names; strangely they were both names I encountered well before I was pg (or had even met dh) and had filed away "for future use" - good thing I found a paddy to marry, then!!

Miss, she called us Paddys.

Yes she did miss, I heard it too!

Uh oh! the last time someone did that there was ructions!!

I have an Aoife yes you have to spell it but over and over people say OHHH thats a beautiful name.. neither dh or I have any Irish connections we picked names that were neither English or Danish so they would be pronoucned the same in both languages..

she is now 6 and I still adore her name

Ah Attract and Concepta - fabulous - up there with Assumpta and Bridie imo. Gotta love them!

OP - Aoife is a lovely name and if I were you, I wouldn't let the fact that it might be difficult for some people to spell put you off using it. Sure, your DC will probably have to spell it a lot for people, but I think your mum's being a tad dramatic. I have plenty friends with Irish names living in England and they don't resent having to spell their names or correct people on the pronunciation. If you like it, go for it!

Yes - Biddy is great!