Aodhán
'little fire' — a diminutive of Aodh
Aodh on its own is just AY, because the dh says nothing. Add the ending and you get AY-dawn.
- dh, gh → silent, or a soft y at the start
- ao → ee, or ay in Munster
- á é í ó ú (the fada) → a long vowel — and never optional
St Aidan of Lindisfarne left Iona in 635 to convert Northumbria and is remembered as the apostle of the English north — one of the many Irish monks whose names are commoner in England than at home. The spelling Aiden is now among the most popular boys' names in the United States.
- Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (born 1976) — Irish Labour Party politician
Irish people with an English Wikipedia article whose given name is recorded as Aodhán 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