Getting real about Aoife

[name_f]Aoife[/name_f] is one of a very few names we both love. I think it’s beautiful, but I’m not convinced it’s usable in the US. My husband thinks that people have a greater sense of Irish names in the United States, thanks to people like [name_f]Saoirse[/name_f] [name_m]Ronan[/name_m]. Considering I had to look up how to spell [name_f]Saoirse[/name_f] in order to type this out, I’m less than convinced.
What do you guys think? Would we be complete a-holes if we named an American child [name_f]Aoife[/name_f]?

Honestly, I had to look up the pronunciation. It is a beautiful name and part of me thinks you should definitely go with it, but I would assume most people would struggle with the pronunciation and spelling at first. [name_m]How[/name_m] about just [name_f]Eeva[/name_f]/[name_f]Eva[/name_f].

I’m from the UK and names like [name_f]Aoife[/name_f], [name_f]Niamh[/name_f], [name_f]Siobhan[/name_f] etc are pretty normal (I know several of each and none of them are Irish or if they are it’s distantly). I can’t really say how [name_f]Aoife[/name_f] would be perceived in the US but I can say that a lot of names have problems with people who are unfamiliar with them but once spelling/pronunciation has been explained I think you’d be fine. I have a straight forward and not unusual name ([name_f]Kirsten[/name_f]) but I’m always having to spell it out and correct people who see it and call me [name_f]Kristin[/name_f], [name_f]Kirstie[/name_f] etc. It can be written in front of them and they still say and spell it wrong! Looking at the other names in your signature I don’t think you’d have any more trouble with [name_f]Aoife[/name_f] than you would with [name_m]Guillaume[/name_m] or [name_f]Clothilde[/name_f]. I think for a name as beautiful as [name_f]Aoife[/name_f] having to correct people sometimes would be worth it, especially if you really love the name.

I agree with @nemorosa, [name_f]Aoife[/name_f] is no more difficult than any other name on your list, so I think it’s fine to use.

I live in the US and I have met one [name_f]Aoife[/name_f]. I work at a birthday party store and she was a child at a party. Being a name nerd, I understood how to say it, but the rest of my coworkers were clueless when reading her nametag. The girl was I used to it, but very frustrated by the end of the party that no one could say her name. All her friends though had no problem with it and knew the spelling. Its just something that after people get used to they would have no problem with it, but the general public will have pronunciation issues when reading it originally.

I am from the US and I think the general public here would have a very hard time with spelling and pronunciation, but I think if you spelled it phonetically it would be usable.

I’m on the fence about using [name_f]Aoife[/name_f] but not for the exact same reasons others have stated. I’ll try to explain.

By the time I was about 12 or 13 I had heard of the following two names and were familiar with them. But I’d only heard them, never seen. And so when I finally met a ro-[name_m]SHEEN[/name_m] and shi-[name_m]VONN[/name_m] at my highschool (in [name_f]Canada[/name_f]) I was quite surprised to find them spelt as [name_f]Roisin[/name_f] and [name_f]Siobhan[/name_f]. I honestly thought they were spelt [name_f]Rosheen[/name_f] and Chivonne, lol. I was put in a group with [name_f]Siobhan[/name_f] and she laughed when I wrote her name down, correcting me. With [name_f]Roisin[/name_f], I saw her name before I met her, and pronounced it incorrectly aloud. When I was corrected by an adult, I exclaimed, “oh that’s how you spell “[name_f]Rosheen[/name_f]”? I love that name.” Both girls liked their names and were proud of having some Irish heritage. And everyone liked their names. I love [name_f]Roisin[/name_f] and [name_f]Siobhan[/name_f]… and still love [name_f]Rosheen[/name_f] and Chivonne, too, lol, although I’d never spell them incorrectly like that if I were to use them.

The thing about [name_f]Aoife[/name_f] is that everyone already knows the name [name_f]Eve[/name_f]. When you say it aloud, people don’t think, “oh I think I might have heard that interesting name before,” then start making up spellings in their head. They don’t think anything. They just automatically assume ‘[name_f]Eve[/name_f]’. So, while I love Irish spellings, I think with ‘[name_f]Eve[/name_f]’ that [name_f]Aoife[/name_f] it seems unnecessary, and therefore a little pretentious, unfortunately. With names like [name_f]Roisin[/name_f], [name_f]Siobhan[/name_f] and [name_f]Saoirse[/name_f], they have people wondering as soon as they hear them aloud. It’s not like [name_f]Rosheen[/name_f] or Chivonne is one of the most popular names in the world. But [name_f]Eve[/name_f] is.

aI know several Aoifes (and a few Niamhs, a [name_f]Roisin[/name_f], [name_m]Seamus[/name_m], [name_f]Aisling[/name_f], etc.) and I live in the US. I’m of the opinion that we shouldn’t dumb things down and make it so people have to do zero thinking when learning. The pronunciation of [name_f]Aoife[/name_f] is easy and recognizable. A thousand little girls have names that sound similar so people will catch on quickly. Names are more often said aloud than written by the most important people in your lives so I just wouldn’t worry much about it. Almost all names need to be spelled these days anyways. I’m always spelling [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f] out and I work with the public, asking for clarification when spelling ordinary names like [name_u]Kelly[/name_u], [name_f]Amy[/name_f], [name_f]Caitlin[/name_f], [name_f]Catherine[/name_f], [name_f]Johanna[/name_f], [name_m]Marcus[/name_m], [name_m]Christopher[/name_m], etc. It’s not a big hassle.

[name_f]Aoife[/name_f] isn’t pronounced “eve,” if anything, people will mishear [name_f]Eva[/name_f] or spell it [name_f]Effa[/name_f], like you did with [name_f]Siobhan[/name_f].

The majority of the American public will not have any clue about this name at first glance.

Everyone has had some very good points. I guess it’s a balance between spelling the name correctly and retaining its “Irishness”, and making the spelling and pronunciation easier on your child. Which one is most important to you? If you have Irish heritage that you want to pay homage to, then [name_f]Aoife[/name_f] may be worth all the extra explanation. But if you don’t, maybe the equally beautiful [name_f]Eva[/name_f] would give you the feel you want without all the trouble.

The average American will find this very intimidating to pronounce and spell. It’s far from unusable if you’re fine with making a lot of explanations, but people who fear getting it wrong may avoid it altogether. That sounds silly, but it can be a downside if, say, a potential friend or future employer is drawn to someone else to avoid an embarrassing interaction. That’s true of many names, though.

It’s a beautiful name once you know how to pronounce it, and even more so with the meaning, but at first glance it always looks to me like the sound a cat makes while coughing up a hairball.

Honestly, an interaction like that is what made me think twice about [name_f]Aoife[/name_f]. I had a list of people I had to call and one of the names was something like Zchervhan. I have no idea how to pronounce that name, and I almost didn’t call him, because I didn’t even want to attempt it. The difference, of course, is that [name_f]Aoife[/name_f] is an actual name, and I think Zchervhan was just messing with us;)

Also, just as an aside, [name_f]Eva[/name_f] is not equivalent to [name_f]Aoife[/name_f]. They have completely different origins. I think for my husband, the spelling is part of the appeal. There’s no way I could imagine spelling it phonetically. Eefa would just be a tragedy.