Pronounciation of Name Aoibhe

masterK · 23-01-2005 09:41PM #1

Can somebody please tell me how the name Aoibhe is pronounced, I have looked it up on the web an found it is the Irish Form of Ava, so is it pronounced as AVA. If not how is the Irish form of Ava spelt.

This is important as we would like to call our daughter Ava but spell it in Irish.

dbyrne · 23-01-2005 09:53PM

Some people pronounce this Eve, depending on where there from in Ireland. Aoibhe, which I would say would be Ave (Aoibheann is pronnounced a-veen) so i suppose that the short version would take the same affect. Is there a name that is like Aoibhé, not too sure on Irish names though is the only problem.

parasite · 23-01-2005 10:03PM

i'd pronounce it ay-veh, not ay-vah

seamus · 23-01-2005 10:03PM

dbyrne wrote:

Some people pronounce this Eve, depending on where there from in Ireland. Aoibhe, which I would say would be Ave (Aoibheann is pronnounced a-veen) so i suppose that the short version would take the same affect. Is there a name that is like Aoibhé, not too sure on Irish names though is the only problem.

In this country it can also vary person to person. Caoibhe can be pronounced Kwee-va or Key-feh depending on what it's owner wants. There are loads of names similarly variable in Ireland.

I'd pronouce Aoibhe as Eva, mainly due to its similarity to Aoife (pronounced Ee-fah), and I've seen other people pronounce it as so. Perhaps someone actually called Aoibhe may clarify for us

GoneShootin · 23-01-2005 10:14PM

eefa

masterK · 23-01-2005 11:28PM

Thanks for the replies.

Can anybody suggest anywhere I can get a certain answer or is it just a name that would differ from person to person.

Is the name Aoibhe actually the Irish form of Ava or am I mistaken?

seamus · 23-01-2005 11:56PM

I can't vouch for this site:
http://www.namenerds.com/irish/
But given it's huge database, and how much it correlates to my own experience, it seems pretty accurate. It concurs with my pronunciation of "ee-veh".

This site:
http://www.behindthename.com/
Lists "Ava" as being an alternative of "Eve".

This site says the Irish equivalent of "Eve" is "Aoife" (although, it's only equivalent in sound. The two names have different roots). Aoibheann, Aoibhe, Aoife and other names with that "Aoi" start, all seem to be roughly similar in meaning - radiance or radiant.

I've seen other sites that confirm that Eve == Aoife in meaning, but not Ava.

*Most* sites have said that Ava is another form of Eva or Eve, and that any name starting with "Aoi" as above, is usually an Irish substitute for these.

masterK · 24-01-2005 12:20AM

Thanks for the detailed response Seamus.

We had wanted to spell or duaghters name Aoibhe put pronounce it as Ava. Do you think that is incorrect or is it a matter of preference? We haven't applied for the birth cert yet so we might be safer to simply call her Ava.

Gael · 24-01-2005 11:55AM

"Aoibh" is pronounced EEV. Anything else is wrong*

If you have an e at the end i.e. "Aoibhe"
it would be pronounced "EEV-UH/EEV-EH" Any other pronunciation is wrong*

If you start putting in fadas, the pronounciation will change again, so you'd want to know for sure how you're going to spell it.

*Cocky statement based on possession of Honours Irish degree

simu · 24-01-2005 03:06PM

Gael wrote:

"Aoibh" is pronounced EEV. Anything else is wrong*

If you have an e at the end i.e. "Aoibhe"
it would be pronounced "EEV-UH/EEV-EH" Any other pronunciation is wrong*

If you start putting in fadas, the pronounciation will change again, so you'd want to know for sure how you're going to spell it.

*Cocky statement based on possession of Honours Irish degree

I'd agree with Gael there. It would only confuse the poor girl when she's learning to spell if you tell her that the letters a-o-i-b-h-e should be pronounced Ava.

In the Bible, Eve is Éabha in Irish though - it's pronounced Ey-vah (ey like hey)(approximately).

uberwolf · 24-01-2005 03:11PM

siobhain gives another guide to the pronuciation of the 'bh' sound in irish, i.e as a V. I'd be tempted to soften the start of the name to aid the pronunciation.

making it an aev as opposed to eev.

masterK · 24-01-2005 11:25PM

We have decided to register her name as Ava. As much as we would like to use an Irish spelling there seems to be too much confusion about the Irish form of Ava. Thanks for all your help.

*Sinéad* · 02-02-2005 12:06PM

dbyrne wrote:

(Aoibheann is pronnounced a-veen).

Deirfainn Aoibheann mar ee-von, toisc go raibh muinteoir agam a litrigh agus a dúirt e an sli sin

Gael · 02-02-2005 06:49PM

*Sin&#233 wrote: »

Deirfainn Aoibheann mar ee-von, toisc go raibh muinteoir agam a litrigh agus a dúirt e an sli sin

Mar tá sé ceart!

An Fear Aniar · 09-02-2005 08:36PM

Aoibhe

Eva...

Gael · 11-02-2005 07:11PM

An Fear Aniar wrote:

Aoibhe

Eva...

The problem is that some people would pronounce Eva, as EE-VA and others as AY-VA, with pretty much no-one pronouncing it as it's spelt, EVA.

An blas · 16-07-2007 04:44PM

We've called our daughter Aoibhe and pronounce it Ava. There. It's been done. Officially. You're all welcome to copy. Go mairfidh tu is go gcaithfidh to e.

mk.celt1888 · 29-08-2007 03:59AM

An blas wrote:

We've called our daughter Aoibhe and pronounce it Ava. There. It's been done. Officially. You're all welcome to copy. Go mairfidh tu is go gcaithfidh to e.

my daughter was born september 2004 and called her aoibhe (ava) love the name love the way it sounds love the way it spelt and love the girl who has it

dame · 29-08-2007 10:29AM

Correct pronunciation of Aoibhe is Eva (as in Ee-va not Ay-va)

Would you folks (who pronounce it Ay-va) like to re-invent the name Aoife too and start pronouncing if Ay-fa?

An blas · 28-09-2007 10:21PM

I've said it once and I'll say it again, we've called her Aoibhe and pronounce it Ava. It's a done deal and that makes it real. Just go with the flow 'folks'. It's a happy occasion naming your child, enjoy.

dranoel · 30-09-2007 04:52PM

Will the child be happy with a lifetime of both English and Irish speakers spelling and pronouncing her name incorrectly?

thesage · 30-09-2007 07:46PM

Perhaps more importantly, will the language enjoy being destroyed...

01-10-2007 10:01AM

dranoel wrote:

Will the child be happy with a lifetime of both English and Irish speakers spelling and pronouncing her name incorrectly?

Depends on where she lives, anyway she can choose which pronounciation she would like when she meets people and introduces herself to them.

Karlusss · 09-10-2007 02:03PM

Saying you can choose how to pronounce Aoibhe any way you want is like saying you can pronounce John "yohn" if you want to. Which you can, but it's still wrong. Irish has a much more consistent orthography than English. There aren't really choices on how to pronounce things.

That said, I don't think Aoibhe is exactly a widely used name amongst the Sean-Ghael, so it's not really doing any damage to mispronounce it.

It IS Eva though, or more accurately Eeeeoveh...

monkey tennis · 09-10-2007 03:06PM

An blas wrote:

It's a done deal and that makes it real.

Doesn't make it any less incorrect.

09-10-2007 03:59PM

Going back on what I said earlier, she will be forever correcting prople on how her name is pronounced to everyone Irish speaking and english speaking.

Cionnfhaolaidh · 19-10-2007 03:13AM

An blas wrote: »

I've said it once and I'll say it again, we've called her Aoibhe and pronounce it Ava. It's a done deal and that makes it real. Just go with the flow 'folks'. It's a happy occasion naming your child, enjoy.

That's the first time I've ever heard Aoibhe pronounced AVA.

Perhaps you should change the spelling of her name to "Eabha" before it's too late. Or even better, just change it to AVA :rolleyes:

NuFlyer · 15-02-2008 06:04PM

My daughter is AOIBHE. We, like the original poster here wanted her to be called AVA, but wanted it in Irish, and as there's nor 'direct' translation we used Aoibhe, as Ava & Eva are essentially the same name.
So while the purists may say it's pronounced wrong, it's the pronunciation of AVA and spelt AOIBHE. We like it, and she's 8 now and we never had any issue with it anywhere.

If you like it, use it.:)

Poll Dubh · 15-02-2008 09:36PM

We've decided to call our daughter Amelia but we want to make it Irish even though its not an Irish name coz we're so proud of our heritage. We've come up with calling her Amelia and spelling it Amadán.

Múinteoir · 16-02-2008 08:11PM

Poll Dubh wrote: »

We've decided to call our daughter Amelia but we want to make it Irish even though its not an Irish name coz we're so proud of our heritage. We've come up with calling her Amelia and spelling it Amadán.

How romantic.

Suzywuzy · 26-02-2008 03:52PM

Yeah, I'd go with Eva !

Pronounciation of Name Aoibhe

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