girl's name
Aodha
EE-uh
- Origin Irish
- Gender Girl
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (E&W)
- Births on record 143
Northern Ireland
#179
2024 births
Aodha is a girl's name that is grammatically the genitive of Aodh, a boy's name meaning fire. It is used entirely for girls in our data and first appears in 2018, making it the newest name in the current Northern Irish top 200.
- Aodha is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in Ireland in 2021, when 21 babies were given the name.
- It is a recent arrival in the birth records in Ireland.
- Today about 1 in 58,978 babies in England and Wales is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 2018.
Aodha over time
Births per decade in Ireland, 2010s to 2020s. Aodha is more popular in Northern Ireland — see the country table below. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 2010s | 7 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 85 |
What Aodha means
Aodha means of fire, or belonging to Aodh. It is a grammatical case of the name Aodh rather than a separate word, so the sense is possessive.
Where Aodha comes from
Aodha is the genitive form of Aodh, an Irish name meaning fire and belonging to a pre-Christian god of the same name. The genitive is the form that appears in surnames and patronymics — Mac Aodha, son of Aodh, gives McHugh and Magee — and in phrases where the name is possessed rather than the subject. Its use as an independent given name is very recent and involves two shifts at once: a grammatical case being read as a name in its own right, and a name that was exclusively male being applied to girls. Irish naming has produced the first of these before, in Eirinn and Eireann from Éire, but the accompanying gender switch is unusual.
Aodha in use
Aodha ranks 179th in Northern Ireland on 10 births and 545th in Ireland on 6, and appears in no other market. Our records carry it only from 2018, which makes it the newest name in the current Northern Irish top 200, and it peaked in 2021 when 21 babies were registered, across 143 lifetime births. Every recorded birth is female in our data, though the name it derives from is male.
How popular is Aodha?
In 2024, Aodha was given to 10 babies in England and Wales, ranking #179 that year. It is well established in England and Wales.
Where Aodha is used
Irish figures withhold any name given to fewer than three babies in a year, so a gap means the name fell below that floor rather than went unused. The Central Statistics Office began recording the síneadh fada in 2018, so accented and unaccented spellings are counted separately from that year on. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Aodha
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Aodha also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Aodha over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Aodha in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Aodha
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Aodha — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Aodha
What does the name Aodha mean?
Of fire — it is the genitive of Aodh, a name meaning fire.
Is Aodha a boy's or a girl's name?
Every recorded birth in our data is female, although Aodh, the name it comes from, is male.
How do you pronounce Aodha?
EE-uh, close to the first part of Aoife.
Is Aodha related to McHugh?
Yes. Mac Aodha, son of Aodh, uses the same genitive form and gives the surnames McHugh and Magee.
How popular is the name Aodha?
In 2024, Aodha was given to 10 babies in England and Wales, ranking #179 that year. It is well established in England and Wales.
When was Aodha most popular?
Aodha peaked in 2021, when 21 babies were given the name. It is a recent arrival in the birth records.
Is Aodha a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Aodha currently ranks #179 in Ireland. It is a recent arrival in the birth records. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.