View Message

Pronunciation of Aislin and Aisling
I posted it here because I also want to know what you think of the name. So what do you think of Aislin and Aisling? Are they usable or would it be too difficult to always correct the pronunciation and spelling? I guess most people would say ICE-lyn.How are they pronounced? I always thought they were both ASH-lyn but I'm not sure anymore.I heard:ASH-leen
ASH-leeng (Aisling)
ASH-lyn
ASH-lingDoes anyone know what the correct pronunciation is? I tried to find out but some people claimed that it was ASH-leen and that they're from Ireland so they had to know. Some other people who also said they were from Ireland said it must be ASH-lyn, some said you pronounce the G, some said you don't.Argh. I mean they all claim to really know how it is pronounced and I have no idea whom to trust. So please help! And are Aislin, Aislinn and Aisling even said the same?

This message was edited 1/19/2012, 5:07 PM

Archived Thread - replies disabled
vote up1

Replies

Aislin is pronounced 'ash-ling', with the final 'g' being quite soft. Aisling is an Anglicized spelling, in much the same way Ashling is also.You can hear it here: http://www.babynamesofireland.com/irish-girl-names/irish-girl-names-a-c
vote up1
Ok, time for my nerd speech!I lived in Ireland for a while, and here are some of my observations as a name-obsessed outsider... There are very few native Irish speakers left, so while there has been great strides in resurrecting the language, Irish Gaelic is pretty much a second language for everyone. Thus said, how people pronounce things is pretty much based on (1) where they live (2) where their Irish language teacher (or teachers) was/were from and (3) how much they speak the language or are dedicated/interested in it. Some names are so popular that pretty much everyone pronounces them the same (Aoife, Niamh), or are so straightforward there isn't much debate (Liam, Micheál). I ran into a few Aislings in Ireland, but no Aislinns; not that there aren't any; just that it's way less common. The Aislings I met were all pronounced /ASH ling/, though the "ing" was slightly less pronounced than it is in American English. It was kind of like saying "I'm going fishing"-- sometimes it comes out "I'm goin' fishin'" if you're in a hurry, or depending on where you're from. The "ash" part sounds like halfway between /ASH/ and /OSH/ to American ears, while the last "i" is somewhere between short "i" and long "i." In Irish, Aislinn would be slightly different from Aislin, especially the farther north you go where the irish spoken there is closer to Scottish Gaelic. in Scottish, a word ending in -inn would actually have more of a sort of very brief "yeh" sound tacked onto the end that could sound sort of like -ing to some ears. But, since Irish names tend to get pronounced more like English, most people would probably just say /ASH lin/. I've actually never seen Aislin, but it would be pronounced like /ASH lin/ too.

... Load Full Message

vote up1
Thank you so much! I finally know how to pronounce it :) I'm very happy that Aislin is ASH-lyn. I wouldn't use it because Ashlyn, Ashlynn etc seem to get trendy and because people would always mispronounce it, but I like it as a middle name!I used to like Aisling better until someone said it reminded them of "as* sling" :( I still kind of like it, though and it wouldn't be as common as Aislin as it doesn't sound the same as Ashlyn etc
vote up1
I've always pronounced them ASH-lyn and ASH-ling. I think it'll probably depend on where you are in Ireland, although I suppose I wouldn't know.
vote up1
I lived in Northern Ireland for 4 years and heard Aislin / Aisling pronounced as both ASH-lyn and ASH-leen, I think they're both acceptable pronunciations.
vote up1
I pronounce Aislin and Aislinn: "ASH-lyn", but I pronounce Aisling: "ASH-ling." I can't tell you for sure that those are correct though, but I have a feeling it's one of those cases of depending upon what area of Ireland you're from you pronounce it differently...
vote up1