Aoife ( , ) is an Irish and Gaelic feminine given name. The name is derived from the

Irish Gaelic 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 indigeno ...

''aoibh'', which means "beauty" or "radiance". It has been compared to the

Gaulish Gaulish is an extinct Celtic languages, Celtic language spoken in parts of Continental Europe before and during the period of the Roman Empire. In the narrow sense, Gaulish was the language of the Celts of Gaul (now France, Luxembourg, Belgium, ...

name ''Esvios'' (Latinized ''Esuvius'', feminine '' Esuvia''), which may be related to the tribal name ''

Esuvii The Esuvii (or Esubii; Gaulish: ''Esuuii'') were a Gallic tribe dwelling between the lower Seine and the Loire rivers, in what is now Normandy, during the Iron Age. Name Their tribal name appears to be related to the theonym ''Esus''., s.v. ''E ...

'' and the

theonym A theonym (from Greek (), 'god', attached to (), ) is a proper name of a deity. Theonymy, the study of divine proper names, is a branch of onomastics, the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. Theonymy helps develop an und ...

Esus Esus is a Celtic god known from iconographic, epigraphic, and literary sources. The 1st-century CE Roman poet Lucan's epic ''Pharsalia'' mentions Esus, Taranis, and Teutates as gods to whom the Gauls sacrificed humans. This rare mention of Cel ...

''.

Irish mythology

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths indigenous to the island of Ireland. It was originally Oral tradition, passed down orally in the Prehistoric Ireland, prehistoric era. In the History of Ireland (795–1169), early medieval era, myths were ...

Aífe (Old Irish), spelled () in Modern Irish and Scots Gaelic, is a character from the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. She appears in the sagas '' Tochmarc Emire'' ("the wooing of Emer") and '' Aided Óenfhir Aífe'' ("the death of Aífe's only s ...

the daughter of Airdgeimm, sister of Scathach, is a warrior woman beloved of Cuchullain in the

Ulster Cycle The Ulster Cycle (), formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the Ulaid. It is set far in the past, in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Do ...

. T. F. O'Rahilly supposed that the Irish heroine reflects an otherwise unknown goddess representing a feminine counterpart to Gaulish ''Esus''. 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".

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 Anglicisation or anglicization is a form of cultural assimilation whereby something non-English becomes assimilated into or influenced by the culture of England. It can be sociocultural, in which a non-English place adopts the English language ...

as ''Eva'' or ''Eve''.

Aoife MacMurrough Aoife MacMurrough (; – ), also known as Eva of Leinster or Red Eva, was an Irish noblewoman. The daughter of King of Leinster Dermot MacMurrough, her marriage to Anglo-Norman nobleman Richard "Strongbow" de Clare on 25 August 1170 is consid ...

(also known as Eva of

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

) was a 12th-century Irish noblewoman.

From Aife to Aoife

The first use of "Aoife" as a given name in 20th-century Ireland, was in 1912.

Given name

People

Aoife Ahern Aoife Ahern is the first woman to be dean of engineering at University College, Dublin. Biography Ahern completed her degree in engineering in Trinity College Dublin in 1998 before going to London to the university, where she did a PhD. Ahern ...

, Dean of Engineering at University College, Dublin * Aoife Cusack (born 1996), Irish professional wrestler who performs under the ring name

Lyra Valkyria Aoife Cusack (born 23 October 1996) is an Irish professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw (WWE brand), Raw WWE brand extension, brand under the ring name Lyra Valkyria. She is a former one-time and the inaugural W ...

Aoife Dooley Aoife Dooley (born 14 April 1991), is an Irish writer, illustrator, comedian and graphic designer. Life A North Dubliner, Dooley has lived in Ballymun and Coolock for most of her life. Her father left when she was young and her mother remarried ...

(born 1991), Irish writer *

Aoife Hoey Aoife Hoey (born 6 September 1983) is an Irish bobsledder who has competed since 2004. She finished 22nd out of 23 in the two-woman event at the 2005 FIBT World Championships in Calgary. At , she was the tallest woman at the 2010 Winter Olympics ...

(born 1983), Irish bobsledding olympian *

Aoife Mannion Aoife Mannion (; born 24 September 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for the Republic of Ireland women's national team. She was previously capped for England, the country of her birth, at youth level and received he ...

(born 1995), Irish association footballer *

(c. 1145–1188), Irish Princess of Leinster and Countess of Pembroke *

Aoife McLysaght Aoife McLysaght is an Irish geneticist and a professor in the Molecular Evolution Laboratory of the Smurfit Institute of Genetics, Trinity College Dublin, and Government Science Advisor for the Republic of Ireland. Education McLysaght was educ ...

, Irish 21st century geneticist *

Aoife Melia Eoghan McDermott (born 15 April 1983) is an Irish television and radio presenter. He has presented '' The RTÉ 2fm Breakfast Show'' on radio and hosted ''The Voice of Ireland'' and Ireland's Junior Eurovision Song Contest selection shows on tele ...

, Irish medical doctor *

Aoife Moore Aoife-Grace Moore is an Irish BBC journalist and political correspondent, from Derry, Northern Ireland. Based in the Republic of Ireland, she is best known for breaking the Oireachtas Golf Society scandal, "Golfgate", story with Paul Hosford fo ...

, (fl. 2020s), sometimes Aoife-Grace Moore, Northern Irish journalist *

Aoife Mulholland Aoife Mulholland ( , ; born 29 May 1982) is an Irish actress and musical theatre performer from Salthill, Galway. Aoife is a successful leading lady in London's West End. She has starred as Roxie Hart (twice) in ''Chicago'', at the Cambridge ...

(born 1978), Irish actress *

Aoife Ní Fhearraigh Aoife Ní Fhearraigh (), or simply Aoife, is an Irish singer. A well-known interpreter of Irish language songs, she released her first recording in 1991 and worked with Moya Brennan to produce her much acclaimed 1996 album '' Aoife''. She reached ...

, Irish singer *

Aoife O'Donovan Aoife Maria O'Donovan ( , ; born November 18, 1982) is an American singer and Grammy Award-winning songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer for the string band Crooked Still, as well as one-third of the supergroup folk trio I'm with Her ...

(born 1982), American singer *

Aoife O'Rourke Aoife O'Rourke (born 2 July 1997) is an Irish amateur boxer. She won a silver medal in the middleweight division at the 2025 World Championships. O'Rourke also won gold medals in the same weight category at the 2019, 2022, and 2024 European ...

(born 1997), Irish boxer * Aoife Walsh (born 1989), Irish fashion model

Fictional characters

* Aoife, sister of Scathach in Michael Scott's series ''

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel ''The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel'' is a series of six fantasy novels written by Irish author Michael Scott, completed in 2012. The first book in the series, '' The Alchemyst'', was released in 2007, and the sequels were released ...

'' * Main character in ''The Iron Thorn'' by

Caitlin Kittredge Caitlin Kittredge (born September 1984) is an American author and comic-book writer of dark fantasy and urban fantasy noir. She is known for her ''Nocturne City'' series of adult novels, and for ''The Iron Codex'', a series of young adult books. ...

* Aife, a succubus in ''

Lost Girl ''Lost Girl'' is a Canadian supernatural drama television series that premiered on Showcase on September 12, 2010, and ran for five seasons. It follows the life of a bisexual succubus named Bo, played by Anna Silk, as she learns to control ...

'' * Aoife Brubeck, daughter of Holly Sykes, the protagonist of ''

The Bone Clocks ''The Bone Clocks'' is a 2014 novel by British writer David Mitchell. It was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize, and described as one of the best novels of the year by Stephen King. The novel won the 2015 World Fantasy Award. The novel is d ...

'' by David Mitchell * Aoife Rabbitte, wife of Jimmy Rabbitte, in '' The Guts'' by

Roddy Doyle Roderick Doyle (born 8 May 1958) is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, eight books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. Several of his books have been ...

* Aoife Riordan, member of the Riordan family, in ''Instructions For A Heatwave'' by

Maggie O'Farrell Maggie O'Farrell, RSL (born 27 May 1972), is a novelist from Northern Ireland. Her acclaimed first novel, ''After You'd Gone'', won the Betty Trask Award, and a later one, '' The Hand That First Held Mine'', the 2010 Costa Novel Award. She has ...

Other

* ''Aoife'' (album) (1996), the second album by the Irish singer Aoife * The LÉ Aoife (P22) is a Republic of Ireland naval vessel

References

External links

Medievalscotland.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aoife Irish-language feminine given names Feminine given names