Aoife (/ˈiːfə/EE-fə, Irish:[ˈiːfʲə]) is an Irish and Gaelic feminine given name. The name is probably derived from the Irish Gaelicaoibh, which means "beauty" or "radiance".[1] It has been compared to the Gaulish name Esvios (Latinized Esuvius, feminine Esuvia), which may be related to the tribal name Esuvii and the theonymEsus.[2]
Irish mythology
In Irish mythology, Aífe the daughter of Airdgeimm, sister of Scathach, is a warrior woman beloved of Cuchullain in the Ulster Cycle. T. F. O'Rahilly supposed that the Irish heroine reflects an otherwise unknown goddess representing a feminine counterpart to Gaulish Esus.[3]
Aífe or Aoife was also one of the wives of Lir in the Oidheadh chloinne Lir ("Fate of the Children of Lir"), who turned her stepchildren into swans. There is also Aoife (Áiffe ingen Dealbhaoíth), a woman transformed into a crane, whose skin after death became Manannán's "Crane-bag".[4]
Biblical rendering
The name is unrelated to the Biblical name Eva, which was rendered as Éabha in Irish, but due to the similarity in sound, Aoife has often been incorrectly anglicised as Eva or Eve. Aoife MacMurrough (also known as Eva of Leinster) was a 12th-century Irish noblewoman.
From Aife to Aoife
The first use of Aoife (that spelling) as a given name in 20th-century Ireland was in 1912.[5]
Given name
People
Aoife Ahern, Dean of Engineering at University College, Dublin
Aoife Cusack (born 1996), Irish professional wrestler who performs under the ring name Aoife Valkyrie
This page or section lists people that share the same given name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.
