Aoife

Aoife is an Irish-Gaelic name and therefore Celtic in origin. Although the Irish spelling looks awkward to the average English speaker, the name is actually pronounced with quaint simplicity in its original Gaelic tongue: EE-fa. Aoife is derived from the Gaelic “aoibh” meaning “beautiful, radiant, joyful” and is also a name borne in a couple of legends from colorful Irish mythology. Both stories are exemplary of the Irish tradition of celebrating women as strong, powerful and a force to be reckoned with in their own right. In one myth, Aoife is remembered as the woman-warrior who rivals her own sister, Scáthach. As Scáthach is training the great Irish hero Cúchulainn in the ways of war, Aoife disturbs the peace by provoking battle. Cúchulainn lays the shrewd foundations of his strategy by asking Scáthach what it is that Aoife loves most (the answer: her horse and chariot). Right when Aoife is on the verge of defeating Cúchulainn in battle, the young hero yells that her horse and chariot just fell over a cliff, momentarily distracting her and enabling him to overpower her. Cúchulainn spares Aoife’s life on the condition that she bears him a son – which (you know those fertile Irishwomen) she does in short measure. Aoife is told to return the son to his father in Ireland when he grows to be a young boy, indentifying himself only by wearing a golden ring. Cúchulainn ends up killing his own son – who refused to identify himself – only to tragically discover the golden ring when it was too late. In another Irish legend, Aoife is the second wife of the ancient Irish god Lir. The first wife, Aoife’s sister, bore Lir four children before she died. When Aoife came onto the scene as wifey #2, she was insanely jealous of her husband’s love for his children (her step-children), so she ordered their death. Only hiccup? Her servants refused to carry out her diabolical plan. Taken to the task herself, Aoife was overcome with female compassion and instead turned the children into four beautiful white swans condemned to swim various waters for 900 years. Aside from Aoife’s place in Irish mythological traditional, the name is also sometimes considered the Irish-Gaelic version of Eva (given the similar pronunciations), as in Eve, the first woman of the Bible. In this case, Eva (or Aoife) is derived from the Hebrew “Havva” basically meaning “life”. In all cases, this is a name with very positive meaning and colorful mythological traditions. While Aoife is by no means popular outside of the Irish borders, the name has averaged #6 in popularity over the past 10 years on the Emerald Isle. It also remains quite heavily used in Northern Ireland, as well.