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I really want to like it, and I do like the way it looks, but to me it just sounds like someone with a speech impediment trying to say Eva.

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Efa is pretty awful IMO, sorry. I'd pronounce it as EH-fah and it reminds me of "eff you" and "effing" and the like.

I love Aoife. I worked with a girl named that though I never met her face to face. She worked out of the Ireland office, but we had to correspond a lot.

I think it sounds like a noise one makes when they're a) vomiting or b) sneezing violently

I like it, although I like the look more than the sound. I don't think you'd have to be Irish to use it, but you might want to avoid it in a place where you know nobody could pronounce it.
I don't like the look of Efa. I don't know if there are any other spellings I would like. Aefa? Eifa? Aife? Aifa? Ifa? Ifah? Iofa? Iofe? Eafa?

Hate it and always will.

I live in the U.S. If I had a daughter tomorrow she would be either Niamh or Aoife. I've even gotten my husband on board. When he heard that Aoife was a warrior princess he was immediately sold on the idea. Aoife Margaret and Aoife Rosalind are my stock combos.

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I love Celtic names and names from mythology. So Celtic mythological names really get my neurotransmitters fired up. Add to that the lovely strong but soft sound of Aoife and I'm a gonner.

This message was edited 2/4/2013, 11:58 AM

I like this name on paper, but I think it sounds strange on a person. I think it sounds like the name of a wildlife organization, or something: E.F.A. Maybe it would stand for Endangered Ferrets of America. :P

Eva is much nicer, looks exactly like how it's pronounced, and Eefa or Efa sounds like Eva with a fat lip.

It's not my favourite Irish name, I prefer Aoibhe (EE-vah) and also Caoimhe (KEE-vah), I find I am in the same prediciment. My surname begins with Mc and does sound Irish/Scottish, however I've got no connection to the culture and think that maybe it would be strange to have a Caoimhe in a sibset wih Melody and Georgina (my top two girls names)

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I like it. It's one of my favourites. I prefer the original spelling, but I can see that it would probably cause problems (outside of Ireland).

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Still, in my opinion I'd rather use the authentic Irish spelling rather than to change it for the sake of conformity. I know many people who have first names which have unintuitive pronunciations in English (such as Polish names like Dominika, Rafal, Ania, and surnames which are even more difficult than that) but other people have learned how to pronounce and spell them.

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I know non-Irish people who have distinctively Irish names like Niamh and Siobhan. As long as Irish culture is respected I don't think ethnicity, or feeling Irish, matters.

I like it, but, yeah, probably would be mangled by the masses. I'm not sure spelling it Efa would help much; I think a lot of people would say EF-ə, and that's so much like "effing," as in effing this and effing that...not fun. To make it totally clear, you'd probably have to spell it Eefa or maybe Eafa, and poof! Just like that, all the charm is gone.

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Aoife is beautiful, though.

Yeah I really like Aoife too. The way it sounds. But it would be way too confusing for most people, they would absolutely butcher it. I myself thought it was more like "oef-ay" on first glance.

Excuse errors

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Using my phone until computer is fixed.