Aoife as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Aoife

What is the meaning of the name Aoife ?

The baby name Aoife is a Female name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced IPA: /ˈiːfə/ — anglicized 'EE-fa'.

Aoife is Irish in Origin.

Aoife is an Irish Gaelic given name, from Old Irish Aífe, commonly interpreted as “beauty,” “radiance,” or “pleasantness,” from the element aoibh “delight/beauty.” In Irish legend, Aífe is the formidable warrior who bears Cúchulainn’s son Connla, and another Aoife is the tragic stepmother in the Children of Lir tale. In medieval history, Aoife of Leinster (c.1153–1188), daughter of Diarmait Mac Murchada, married Richard de Clare (“Strongbow”); her name was recorded in English as Eva.

Found in medieval annals, the name waned under Anglicization but was revived during the Irish cultural renaissance and is now a modern staple across Ireland and the diaspora. Variants and related forms include the archaic Aífe, the Anglicizations Eva/Eve and occasionally Effie, and modern spellings or cognates such as Aoibhe, Aoibh, Aoibhín, and Aoibheann, all drawing on the same root sense of brightness and beauty.