Aoife

What Aoife means

Irish, from Old Irish Aífe, possibly meaning “beauty, radiance”

From Old Irish Aífe, possibly from aoibh (“beauty, radiance”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Aoife” (revision 93336998), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Aoife?

US: Steady: #2012 in 2015, #2117 now. England & Wales: Falling: down from #167 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2022, when 115 girls got the name (#1782 that year). First in the US records in 1985.

How common

• About 1 in 18,264 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 956 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 471 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in MA (0.42 per 1,000 girls), MN (0.23 per 1,000 girls), IL (0.2 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Aoife is #2117 in the US and #192 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Aoife were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

If you like Aoife

Girls

• Rowan#249“little red one”^*
• Kenna#759“descendant of Cionaodh”^*
• Teagan#340Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1979, with 6 babies
• Ellis#682“benevolent, kind”^*
• Guinevere#898Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #898 vs #2,788 in 2025
• Rory#230“red-haired king”^*

For a brother

• Liam#1Form of William, meaning “will + helmet”^*
• Kian#400Editor’s note Up from #489 in 2015 to #400 in 2025 in the US
• Finn#206“the Sami”^*
• Declan#139Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #139 vs #372 in 2025
• Rowan#59“little red one”^*
• Ronan#247Irish, meaning “little seal”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Irish & Celtic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Aoife’s. Rank is US 2025.