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Aoife

Gender
Girl
Say it
EE-fa
Origin
Irish
UK rank, 2025
#144 for girls
US rank, 2025
#2,117 for girls
Style
Big in Northern Ireland

Aoife is a girls' name of Irish origin, meaning “beauty, radiance”. In 2025 it ranked 144th for girls in the UK (388 babies) and 2,117th for girls in the US (88 babies).

What does Aoife mean?

Irish

“beauty, radiance”

In Irish legend Aoife, jealous stepmother of the Children of Lir, turned them into swans for 900 years.

More on Wiktionary.

Is Aoife a girl's or a boy's name?

Aoife is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 388 girls in the UK and 88 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.

How popular is Aoife in the UK?

Rank in 2025
144th among girls
Babies in 2025
388 about 1 in 720 girls
Five-year trend
Steady down 11% in five years
Same name in a class
1.9% chance among 15 girls

In 2025, 388 girls in the UK were named Aoife, making it the 144th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 135th. Its busiest year was 2015, with 509 girls.

Half of all the girls named Aoife in the UK since 1996 were born between 2006 and 2019, the years shaded on the chart below.

Among girls in 2025, it was 192nd in England and Wales, 116th in Scotland and 8th in Northern Ireland.

1996Busiest: 509 in 20152025
Aoife in the UK, year by year
YearGirlsRank
2025388#144
2024362#150
2023386#146
2022411#139
2021428#131
2020414#135
2019414#140
2018444#135
2017410#151
2016450#138
2015509#126
2014424#147
2013471#131
2012429#150
2011332#176
2010328#181
2009355#170
2008328#182
2007342#178
2006294#197
2005289#192
2004279#195
2003281#191
2002231#209
2001240#192
2000228#209
1999243#201
1998220#225
1997211#222
199671#460

How popular is Aoife in the US?

Rank in 2025
2,117th among girls
Babies in 2025
88 about 1 in 18,000 girls
Five-year trend
Steady down 19% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 girls

In 2025, 88 girls in the US were named Aoife, making it the 2,117th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 1,818th. Its busiest year was 2018, with 117 girls. It first appears in the records in 1985.

Half of all the girls named Aoife in the US since 1880 were born between 2007 and 2020, the years shaded on the chart below.

1985Busiest: 117 in 20182025
Aoife in the US, year by year
YearGirlsRank
202588#2,117
202484#2,231
202390#2,124
2022115#1,782
2021107#1,861
2020108#1,818
201997#1,986
2018117#1,748
2017108#1,876
2016104#1,929
201598#2,012
201475#2,412
201363#2,725
201273#2,495
201164#2,724
201063#2,780
200969#2,642
200868#2,690
200759#2,992
200651#3,223
200555#2,931
200446#3,261
200347#3,128
200244#3,192
200133#3,860
200031#3,978
199924#4,571
199829#3,911
199733#3,445
199625#4,179
199522#4,513
199424#4,233
199316#5,667
199210#8,057
19919#8,580
19909#8,495
19897#9,675
19885#11,792
19875#11,320
19860–
19856#9,304

Names like Aoife

Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.

Maeve, Eden, Orla, Kiara, Fiadh, Caoimhe, Esme, Nevaeh, Quinn, Saoirse, Sienna, Keira

More Irish names

Oscar, Rowan, Rory, Finn, Aiden, Ryan, Nolan, Cody, Erin, Ronan, Connor, Declan, Casey, Kennedy, Callan, Lennon

Every Irish name

Sources

Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.

To cite this page: Nameling, “Aoife: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/aoife, updated 20 October 2026.