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Girl · Old Irish
Aoife
Say it: EE-fuh
Meaning
Uncertain. Often said to mean 'beauty' or 'radiance' (from aoibh), but this is not established; a link with the Gaulish name Esuvia has also been proposed.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Borne by Aoife MacMurrough at the time of the Anglo-Norman invasion, it was revived in the 20th century and is now very popular in Ireland.
Its wave through time
Popular now
In the United States
- 1,693 babies given this name since 1985
- At its height in 2018, about 1 in 14,600 girls
- 106 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Aífe
| English | Eva |
|---|
Famous bearers
- Aoife, warrior woman in the Ulster Cycle
- Aoife MacMurrough, wife of Strongbow
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Irish annals and early Irish literature
- Well-known works of literature
- National birth statistics of European countries source
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.