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Nicknames for Aoife

Aoifie (EE-fie)

Meanings and history of the name Aoife

From the Gaelic word aoibh meaning beauty'.

Famous real-life people named Aoife

Aoife Curley- many time Irish Dancing World Championship winner

Aoife in song, story & screen

The Name Aoife has a number of stories attached to it - both historical and mythological.

In Irish mythology she was a female warrior and the wife of the great hero Cu Chulainn.

Historically, Aoife was the daughter of Dermot MacMurrough, provincial king of Leinster, in the 12th century. When MacMurrough sought aid from the Normans in a feud, he offered Aoife's hand in marriage to Richard de Clare (aka, Strongbow). De Clare is often credited/blamed as the first Norman "invader" of Ireland.

Another Aoife was the jealous stepmother in the mythological tale, "The Children of Lir", who turned her 3 step-children into swans and cursed them to spend 300 years on each of 3 Irish lakes.

N.B. Despite the (seeming, to the Anglo ear) similarity in pronunciation, Aoife is NOT related to either "Eva" or "Ava".