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HelpWHY does no one know how to pronounce my name
my name is aoife, im from ireland, and outside of ireland (sometimes even in the country where im from) NOBODY ever knows how to pronounce my name. i get ay-oh-fee, eye-fa.... it's eef-a - rhyming with .. beefa??it's a very common irish name,but honestly even AFTER i tell them how to say it people never spell it right or i just.... anyway . opinions?? anyone else the same as me??
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I think the reason as to why as been exhausted at this point, but try to keep yourself from being discouraged by people not getting it. My name is Megan, which most people would agree is very common in most countries where English is a first language, and I've gotten mispronounciations and so many misspellings. Then my last name is Hungarian and only about 10% of people get it right on their first shot. And that's probably mainly due to it not being of a Latin or germanic origin. I've actually come up with a saying to help people remember it so they don't feel like I'm offended, but also know that I care about its proper pronunciation. That could maybe be a good idea for you.
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Well, I know how to pronounce it, but that's because my family's ancestors are from Ireland and England, and I love Irish culture and names. Also I've been to Dublin.
This message was edited 1/27/2015, 10:44 AM
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Well, your name is not spelled phonetically, so it is not surprising that people can't pronounce it.
Unfortunately, people will often assume that a name is pronounced the way it is spelled. In your case, Aoife looks like it should be said "ay-oh-fee", so if someone is not familiar with it, that's what they'll go with.
Incidentally, I live in England and would know how to pronounce Aoife - I think it's a beautiful name.
Unfortunately, people will often assume that a name is pronounced the way it is spelled. In your case, Aoife looks like it should be said "ay-oh-fee", so if someone is not familiar with it, that's what they'll go with.
Incidentally, I live in England and would know how to pronounce Aoife - I think it's a beautiful name.
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I see it and think it's pronounced "oif".
This message was edited 1/24/2015, 5:44 PM
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Most people don't speak Irish Gaelic, so naturally a lot of people aren't going to know the pronunciation. I'm kinda unfamiliar with Irish names despite knowing a number of people of Irish heritage.
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Simple... because Irish phonetics are not known to most of the rest of the world, and the sound of the letters makes no sense to an outsider.
Aoife is only just becoming well known in that States, and still people would have trouble spelling it here. The same way that some people still pronounce Jose with a hard j instead of (what we call) and "h" sound.
Foreign pronunciation leads to mispronunciation.
It's nothing to be insulted about. It's to be expected.
Ex... my husband is named Julius (which is even more common than Aoife in terms of multinationality). People say yoo-lee-us, jool-ee-us, hool-ee-us, yoo-lus, Julis and jew-lees. Simply because people use the phonetics of their native language to sound out names at first glance.
Aoife is only just becoming well known in that States, and still people would have trouble spelling it here. The same way that some people still pronounce Jose with a hard j instead of (what we call) and "h" sound.
Foreign pronunciation leads to mispronunciation.
It's nothing to be insulted about. It's to be expected.
Ex... my husband is named Julius (which is even more common than Aoife in terms of multinationality). People say yoo-lee-us, jool-ee-us, hool-ee-us, yoo-lus, Julis and jew-lees. Simply because people use the phonetics of their native language to sound out names at first glance.
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I live in Ireland but I'm not Irish (nor an english speaker), and people with an irish name often have the courtesy of spelling it out for me or making sure I understand the pronunciation, at least those who have strong feelings about their name being said/spelled wrong.
No one gets offended.
As Irish is a completely different language than English, even English speakers should be regarded as "foreigners" in relation to irish language and names, so I wouldn't be surprised they don't know how to say it.
Also, most people here don't understand my name, even if it's perfectly common where I live and has an English equivalent. Some people even spell it wrong on Facebook, where they have the actual spelling there to read (or copy and paste, I'm not fussy). But what can I do?
No one gets offended.
As Irish is a completely different language than English, even English speakers should be regarded as "foreigners" in relation to irish language and names, so I wouldn't be surprised they don't know how to say it.
Also, most people here don't understand my name, even if it's perfectly common where I live and has an English equivalent. Some people even spell it wrong on Facebook, where they have the actual spelling there to read (or copy and paste, I'm not fussy). But what can I do?
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Most people aren't familiar with Irish phonetics. It's different enough from English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Czech, Norwegian, Swedish, etc. that anyone who doesn't know Irish/ traditional Irish names and place names is stumped.
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Um, because it's an unusual name with a non-intuitive spelling?
Don't get me wrong, I like the name Aoife. I would know how to spell it because I'm a namenerd. But most people aren't. That's the burden that comes with having an unusual name.
Would you rather be one of the millions of Jennifers, Laurens, Emmas.. because take it from me, it's not so great having a common name.
Don't get me wrong, I like the name Aoife. I would know how to spell it because I'm a namenerd. But most people aren't. That's the burden that comes with having an unusual name.
Would you rather be one of the millions of Jennifers, Laurens, Emmas.. because take it from me, it's not so great having a common name.
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I'd rather have a common name than a very unusual one that nobody can spell/pronounce.
My name is Emma and I was one of 4 in my class at primary school. My sister in law is also called Emma and I work with another Emma too. It's never bothered me at all. I was Emma H in school - it didn't bother me. Most people were "firstname initial", even those who were the only one with the name. I had a friend called Luan - nobody else was called Luan but he still signed everything "Luan S."
My name is Emma and I was one of 4 in my class at primary school. My sister in law is also called Emma and I work with another Emma too. It's never bothered me at all. I was Emma H in school - it didn't bother me. Most people were "firstname initial", even those who were the only one with the name. I had a friend called Luan - nobody else was called Luan but he still signed everything "Luan S."
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I like having a much less common name, Tawnee. It made me feel a little bit more special and unique when I was growing up. The only downside was never being able to find any of those personalized keychains or whatever with my name. That sucked. But yeah different people have different experiences. :)
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I can tell you why nobody in the US seems to be able to pronounce it. It's not used here, there don't seem to be any celebrities with the name, and the spelling makes no sense from any standpoint except somebody who knows the Irish language. To an American, Aoife just looks like a random jumble of vowels with an f stuck in the middle of it.
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Irish names are difficult to pronounce and spell for anyone who is not Irish because the pronunciations do not come intuitively from the spellings and vice versa. That's really why authentic Irish names that have not been Anglicized are rarely used outside Ireland. I've lived in the US for fifty-three of my fifty-four years and I've never seen one in use in the US. I did see one, Eimear, in Australia, but I think that girl may have been from Ireland originally.
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I know how to pronounce it, but that's because I'm a namenerd. Most people aren't, so they don't know. You can't be too hard on them.
Anyway, my name is pretty common, but even it gets mispronounced. I think that just happens, especially so if you have an uncommon name that isn't spelled phonetically. Again, it's just something that happens. No big deal.
Anyway, my name is pretty common, but even it gets mispronounced. I think that just happens, especially so if you have an uncommon name that isn't spelled phonetically. Again, it's just something that happens. No big deal.
This message was edited 1/23/2015, 12:42 PM
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Aoife is lovely, but you know it's not the only Irish name people outside the country find perplexing. Wouldn't you would stumble over most Chinese or Hungarian names, assuming you don't speak either language? Most people don't speak Irish or study Irish names in great detail.
My advice is to just correct them and forget about it. It's not that big a deal.
My advice is to just correct them and forget about it. It's not that big a deal.
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I only know how to pronounce it because I've looked it up in the past. In the English language, it's not a name that's very instinctive to us in how it's spelled and pronounced. That's because it's Gaelic in origin. Let's be honest, not many people are interested in learning the rules of a language they don't speak!
I think your name is beautiful, you'll just have to be patient with other people! They'll get it eventually.
I think your name is beautiful, you'll just have to be patient with other people! They'll get it eventually.
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I would know how to pronounce it, but I love many Irish names.
While it's annoying, it's a very closed minded view of the world if you expect people to understand the intricities of the Gaelic alphabet and the pronunciations. In most Latin based languages, aoi doesn't make an EE sound. So phonetically, the spelling of your name doesn't make sense to a lot of people.
It's a lovely name and probably annoying that you have to correct people all the time. However, you can't take it personally. I'm sure people don't intend to get your name wrong.
While it's annoying, it's a very closed minded view of the world if you expect people to understand the intricities of the Gaelic alphabet and the pronunciations. In most Latin based languages, aoi doesn't make an EE sound. So phonetically, the spelling of your name doesn't make sense to a lot of people.
It's a lovely name and probably annoying that you have to correct people all the time. However, you can't take it personally. I'm sure people don't intend to get your name wrong.
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Um. Well. Possibly because your name isn't written in English.
Unless people either speak and read Irish Gaelic or (like me) have come across Aoife before, then of course they aren't going to know how to say it. They're going to have to guess. As you're from Ireland, I'm sure you know that while English and Irish share an alphabet the writing system is radically different, which means an English-speaker's attempt at pronouncing a name written in Irish is usually going to be wrong.
So why get mad about it? People can't be expected to magically know the rules of Irish orthography. I have two names, one English, one otherwise. Do I except people to be able to correctly read my non-English name? Of course not. They don't know the language.
While I understand that it might be annoying to always have to tell people how your name is said and spelled, there's really no sense in getting mad about it. Unless it bothers you that some Irish people don't know the Irish name, but that's a different argument.
Unless people either speak and read Irish Gaelic or (like me) have come across Aoife before, then of course they aren't going to know how to say it. They're going to have to guess. As you're from Ireland, I'm sure you know that while English and Irish share an alphabet the writing system is radically different, which means an English-speaker's attempt at pronouncing a name written in Irish is usually going to be wrong.
So why get mad about it? People can't be expected to magically know the rules of Irish orthography. I have two names, one English, one otherwise. Do I except people to be able to correctly read my non-English name? Of course not. They don't know the language.
While I understand that it might be annoying to always have to tell people how your name is said and spelled, there's really no sense in getting mad about it. Unless it bothers you that some Irish people don't know the Irish name, but that's a different argument.
This message was edited 1/23/2015, 12:38 PM
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Honestly I have never heard of your name before. I would probably say ay-ee-fee.
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