Aisling
'a dream, a vision'
The s sits beside an i, which makes it sh. ASH-ling — the same sh you hear in Sinéad and Seán.
- s before e or i → sh
Not an ancient personal name but a literary form: the aisling was a genre of 18th-century Irish poetry in which Ireland appears to the poet as a beautiful woman in a dream, foretelling deliverance. Poets like Aogán Ó Rathaille made it the vehicle for hope under the Penal Laws; the 20th century turned the word into a girl's name.
- Aisling Franciosi (born 1993) — Irish-Italian actress
- Aisling Bea (born 1984) — Irish comedian, actress, and writer
- Aisling Walsh (born 1958) — Irish writer and film director
- Aisling O'Sullivan (born 1968) — Irish actress
- Aisling Daly (born 1987) — Irish martial artist
Irish people with an English Wikipedia article whose given name is recorded as Aisling on Wikidata; descriptions from Wikidata.
Meanings follow Ó Corráin & Maguire's Irish Names and Woulfe; pronunciations give the commonest Irish-English form. Know this name better — a dialect pronunciation, a family tradition? Tell us. · All Irish names A–Z