Aurnia

Diving into a good book I found this name: Aurnia. I quickly googled it and the sources that came up say it is Irish (the the Au- bit sounds more Latin to me) and means “golden lady”. I quite like how it sounds but wonder how usable it would be in the modern day. I think it would make a very pretty middle name or even first in the the right combination. Thoughts?

[name_m]How[/name_m] is it pronounced? Ar-nee-ah? I think I’d have to know that to form a real opinion, but I don’t really like the aesthetic of it.

Orr- nee-ah is how it’s pronounced :slight_smile:

When I first saw the name I had no idea of how to pronounce it, but as I read more about it… the name immediately made me think of another Irish name: [name_f]Orla[/name_f]. [name_f]Orla[/name_f] means “golden princess” and I quite prefer [name_f]Orla[/name_f] to Aurnia, as [name_f]Orla[/name_f] is easier to pronounce and of course the princess meaning is cute. Aurnia is a fine middle name, though I wouldn’t really like it as a first name just because of ALL the pronunciations and spelling problems a girl with Aurnia will have to face throughout her life. I think [name_f]Orla[/name_f] could very well work either in the first or middle name spot because it’s easy to spell and pronounce: Or - lah.

Either way I think that [name_f]Orla[/name_f] or Aurnia would pair best with another Irish name such as:

The easier to spell/pronounce: [name_f]Deirdre[/name_f], [name_f]Moira[/name_f], [name_f]Cara[/name_f], [name_f]Maeve[/name_f], [name_u]Tierney[/name_u], [name_f]Keira[/name_f], [name_f]Etain[/name_f]
Or the harder to spell/pronounce: [name_f]Roisin[/name_f], [name_f]Siobhan[/name_f], Saorise, [name_f]Sorcha[/name_f]

There are other loads of Irish names out there, this is just me throwing a few Irish first names to pair with Aurnia or [name_f]Orla[/name_f]. If you wish to use Aurnia as a middle name, I would suggest using an easier to spell/pronounce name as the first name as a way to balance out the name set. Since [name_f]Orla[/name_f] is easy to spell and pronounce I think [name_f]Orla[/name_f] can be paired with either name of any spelling difficulty. I do feel that Aurnia (or [name_f]Orla[/name_f]) is such an Irish name that it should be paired with another Irish name (though I feel that a Welsh or English name could work as well).

Anyway, I hope this helps. :smiley:

I also don’t know how to pronounce Aurnia. In my mind it sounds like ORE-nee-uh which sounds too much like ornery. But I could be pronouncing it wrong. I love the meaning and how it looks. I think it could definitely work in today’s naming world but you may have to clarify how to say it occasionally.