Aisling is an

Irish language Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...

feminine given name meaning "dream" or "vision". It refers to an

aisling The , , approximately ), or vision poem, is a mythopoeic poetic genre that developed during the late 17th and 18th centuries in Irish language poetry. The word may have a number of variations in pronunciation, but the ''is'' of the first s ...

, a poetic genre that developed in Irish poetry during the 17th and 18th centuries. There is no evidence that it was used as a given name before the 20th century. The name is included in Reverend Patrick Woulfe's 1923 collection of Irish names, with the comment that the name was in use in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

and

Omeath Omeath (; or ''Uí Meth'') is a village on the Cooley Peninsula in County Louth, Ireland, close to the border with Northern Ireland. It is roughly midway between Dublin and Belfast, very near the County Louth and County Armagh / County Down bor ...

. There are many variant anglicised forms of the name including Ashling, Aislin, Aislinn, Aislene, Ashlyn, and Ashlynn. Pronunciation of the name also varies, with the most common pronunciation being ; other forms acceptable to Irish speakers are and . Others, such as , , and , do not follow the Irish pronunciation. Aisling held steady in the top 20 girls' names in Ireland from 1984 to 1996 and is therefore often linked with the

millennial Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s as ...

generation in Ireland, most notably in the '' Oh My God What A Complete Aisling'' novels. Aisling was the 31st most popular name for baby girls in Ireland in 2005, while Ashlyn was the 140th most popular name for baby girls in the United States in 2006, and the variant spelling Ashlynn the 293rd most popular name for baby girls in the United States in 2006. Ashlyn is also occasionally regarded as a modern name derived from both

Ashley Ashley is a place name derived from the Old English words '' æsċ'' (“ash”) and '' lēah'' (“meadow”). It may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ashley (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

and Lynn.

People

Aisling Bea Aisling Clíodhnadh O'Sullivan (born 16 March 1984), known professionally as Aisling Bea ( ), is an Irish comedian, actress and screenwriter. She created, wrote and starred in the comedy series '' This Way Up'' on Channel 4. As a stand-up comedi ...

(born 1984), Irish comedian *

Aisling Burnand Aisling Maria Burnand (born 22 December 1964; died 19 September 2022) was a British business executive and consultant. In 2009, she joined Cancer Research UK as Executive Director of Policy & Public Affairs. In 2014, she became Chief executive of ...

(born 1964), British businesswoman and lobbyist *

Aisling Daly Aisling Daly ( ; born 24 December 1987) is a retired Irish female professional mixed martial arts, mixed martial artist who last competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC women's Strawweight (MMA), strawweight division. Daly had been ...

(born 1987), Irish mixed martial arts fighter *

Aislinn Derbez Aislinn González Michel (born 18 March 1987), better known as Aislinn Derbez, is a Mexican actress. Early life and career Aislinn González Michel is the daughter of actors Eugenio Derbez and Gabriela Michel, who were married from 1986 to 198 ...

, (born 1987), Mexican actress *

Aisling Franciosi Aisling Franciosi ( , ; born 6 June 1993) is an Irish actress. She won an AACTA Award for her leading role in the film '' The Nightingale'' (2018). On television, she is known for her roles in the RTÉ-BBC Two crime drama '' The Fall'' (2013–2 ...

(born 1993), Irish-Italian actress * Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace (born 1978), British glamour model and ''Big Brother'' contestant * Aislinn Hunter (born 1969), Canadian writer * Aislin Jones (born 2000), Australian skeet shooter *

Aisling Loftus Aisling Sinead Katie Loftus (born 1 September 1990) is a British actress. She began her career as a child actress and first gained prominence through her roles in the BBC dramas '' Five Daughters'' (2010) and '' Dive'' (2010), the play ''Spur of ...

(born 1990), English actress of Irish parentage *

Aislín McGuckin Aislín McGuckin (born May 1974) is a Northern Irish actress. She has appeared in theatre, television, and film roles. Her early film work includes '' The Nephew'' and ''The White Countess''. From 2014 to 2015, she starred as Letitia MacKenzie ...

(born 1974), Northern Irish actress *

Aislinn Meaney Aislinn Meaney (born 24 October 1998) is an Irish association footballer, who plays for Galway United. She has previously played for multiple Irish league teams, and multiple college soccer teams in the United States. She has played for the Rep ...

(born 1998), Irish association footballer *

Ashling Murphy Ashling Murphy (6 July 1998 – 12 January 2022) was an Irish primary school teacher, traditional Irish musician, and camogie player who was murdered in January 2022 while walking on the towpath of the Grand Canal at Cappincur, outside Tullamor ...

(died 2022), Irish primary school teacher and traditional musician, murdered in 2022 *

Aisling O'Neill Aisling O'Neill is an Irish actress. She has portrayed Carol Foley in ''Fair City'' for more than two decades. O'Neill's portrayal of Carol earns her personal letters of admiration and bought her an Irish Film and Television Awards, IFTA nomina ...

, Irish actress *

Aisling O'Sullivan Aisling O'Sullivan (born in Tralee, County Kerry) is an Irish people, Irish actress. Career O'Sullivan attended the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin and joined the Abbey Theatre in 1991. Theatre In 2011 and 2012, she toured Ireland with Druid, ...

(born 1968), Irish actress *

, Irish ecological engineer *

Aislinn Paul Aislinn Claire Paul (; born March 5, 1994) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her role in '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' as Clare Edwards, for which she has won two Canadian Screen Awards (2015 and 2016) for Best Performance in a Ch ...

(born 1994), Canadian actress *

Aisling Swaine Aisling Swaine (pronounced ; born Ballitore, County Kildare, Ireland) is a professor of Peace, Security and International Law at University College Dublin. She has taught as an associate professor of practice of international affairs, focusi ...

, Irish academic * Aislin, the pen name of Canadian political cartoonist

Terry Mosher Christopher Terry Mosher, (born 11 November 1942) is a Canadian political cartoonist for the ''Montreal Gazette''. He draws under the name Aislin, a rendition of the name of his eldest daughter Aislinn (without the second 'n'). Aislin's drawing ...

(born 1942)

Fictional characters

* Aisling, the titular subject in the song "Aisling", on Shane MacGowan's 1994 album '' The Snake'' * Aisling, the main character in Malinda Lo's novel '' Ash'' * Aisling in the Irish animated TV programme ''

Ballybraddan ''Ballybraddan'' is an Irish animated television series first broadcast on RTÉ Two in April 2009. The series is produced in Ireland by Monster Animation in association with Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) and the Irish Film Board. Backgroun ...

'' * Aisling in the anonymous novel ''

Diary of an Oxygen Thief ''Diary of an Oxygen Thief'' is a 2006 Dutch novel, written anonymously and published in Amsterdam by NLVI. ''Diary of an Oxygen Thief'' was called a "surprise dark-horse Williamsburg best seller" by ''New York Magazine'', referring to the indepen ...

'' * Aisling, a hero in the video game '' Gigantic'' * Aisling in the novel ''

Son of the Shadows ''Son of the Shadows'' is a historical fantasy novel by Juliet Marillier and the second book in the Sevenwaters Trilogy first published in 2000. It follows the path of Sorcha and Red's third child, Liadan, a girl who lives outside the pattern ...

'' * Aisling, aspiring film director in the play '' Stones in His Pockets'' * Aisling, a young faerie girl in the animated film ''

The Secret of Kells ''The Secret of Kells'' is a 2009 animated fantasy drama film directed by Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey, produced by Paul Young, Didier Brunner and Viviane Vanfleteren, written by Fabrice Ziolkowski. An Irish-French-Belgian co-production, led b ...

'' * Aisling (character), the protagonist of the Aisling book series by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen, Irish Book Awards multiple winner * Ashling, the Pilgrim, a character in the TCG '' Magic: The Gathering'' female fire elemental, traveling through her world * Aisling, a recurring character in the British-made sitcom ''

Derry Girls ''Derry Girls'' is a British-produced period teen sitcom set in Derry, Northern Ireland, created and written by Lisa McGee, that premiered on 4 January 2018 on Channel 4 and ran for three series. The channel's most successful comedy since '' ...

'' * Queen Aislinn, wife of the tyrant King Freyne and mother of King Einon in the movie ''

Dragonheart ''Dragonheart'' (stylized as ''DragonHeart'') is a 1996 fantasy adventure film directed by Rob Cohen and written by Charles Edward Pogue, based on a story created by him and Patrick Read Johnson. The film stars Dennis Quaid, David Thewlis, ...

'' * Ashelin in the ''Jak and Daxter'' video game series, introduced in ''Jak II'' * Aisling Duval, a princess of the Empire in the video game '' Elite: Dangerous'' * Aislinn Foy, the main character in Melissa Marr's novel ''

Wicked Lovely ''Wicked Lovely'' is a young adult fiction, young adult/urban fantasy novel by author Melissa Marr (author), Melissa Marr. The story follows protagonist Aislinn, who has the Sight (the ability to see faeries), and whose life begins to unravel wh ...

'' * Aisling Laffrey, a character in the video game ''

Path of Exile ''Path of Exile'' is a free-to-play action role-playing video game developed and published by Grinding Gear Games. Following an open beta phase, the game was released for Microsoft Windows in October 2013. A version for Xbox One was released in ...

'', member of ''Immortal Syndicate'' * Aisling "Ash" McCarthy, one of the two main characters in the novel ''

Like In English, the word ''like'' has a very flexible range of uses, ranging from conventional to non-standard. It can be used as a noun, verb, adverb, adjective, preposition, particle, conjunction, hedge, filler, quotative, and semi-suffix. U ...

'' * Aisling Noon, a character in ''

The Wheel of Time ''The Wheel of Time'' is a series of high fantasy novels by the American author Robert Jordan, with American author Brandon Sanderson as co-writer of the final three installments. Originally planned as a trilogy, ''The Wheel of Time'' came to ...

'' book series by Robert Jordan * Aisling O'Connor, a main character in the novel '' Light a Penny Candle'' * Aisling O'Dowd, a character in the television show '' Can't Cope, Won't Cope'' * Aisling Querelle, a character in the television show ''

Carnival Row ''Carnival Row'' is an American fantasy television series created by René Echevarria and Travis Beacham, based on Beacham's unproduced film spec script, ''A Killing on Carnival Row''. The series stars Orlando Bloom, Cara Delevingne, Simon M ...

'' * Aislinn Wishart, a character in the Japanese manga ''

Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirise Edwardian society and ...

References

{{given name Irish-language feminine given names Feminine given names

People

Fictional characters

See also

References