Aisling (name)
Aisling is an Irish language feminine given name meaning "dream" or "vision" and referring to an aisling, a poetic genre that developed during the late 17th and 18th century in Irish language genre poetry. Aisling was not used as a given name before the 20th century.[1]
 This painting by Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes depicts an aisling. | |
| Gender | female |
|---|---|
| Language(s) | Irish |
| Origin | |
| Meaning | aisling, meaning a "dream", a "vision" |
| Other names | |
| Short form(s) | Ash |
There are many variant anglicised forms of the name, including Ashling, Aislin, Aislinn, Aislene, Ashlyn and Ashlynn.[1] Pronunciation of the name also varies, with the most common pronunciation being /ˈæʃlɪŋ/ ASH-ling; other forms acceptable to Irish speakers are /ˈæʃlɪn/ ASH-lin and /ˈæʃliːn/ ASH-leen. Others, such as /ˈeɪzlɪŋ/ AYZ-ling, /ˈæslɪŋ/ ASS-ling and /ˈeɪslɪŋ/ AYSS-ling, do not follow the Gaelic pronunciation.
The name Aisling was the thirty-first most popular name for baby girls in Ireland in 2005. Ashlyn was the 140th most popular name for baby girls in the United States in 2006, while its variant spelling Ashlynn was ranked at 293 for baby girls in 2006 in the United States. Ashlyn is also occasionally regarded as a modern name derivation from Ashley and Lynn.[2]
People
- Aislin, the pen name of Canadian political cartoonist Terry Mosher (born 1942)
- Aisling Bea (born 1984), Irish comedian
- Ashlynn Brooke (born 1985), American adult actress/producer
- Aisling Burnand, British businesswoman and lobbyist
- Aisling Daly (born 1987), Irish mixed martial arts fighter
- Aisling Franciosi (born 1993), Irish-Italian actress
- Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace (born 1978), British glamour model and former Big Brother contestant
- Ashlyne Huff, American singer
- Aislinn Hunter, Canadian writer
- Aislin Jones, Australian Olympic skeet shooter
- Aisling Loftus, English actress of Irish parentage
- Aislín McGuckin (born 1974), Northern Irish actress
- Aisling O'Neill, Irish actress
- Aisling O'Sullivan (born 1968), Irish actress
- Aislinn Paul (born 1994), Canadian actress
- Ashlynn Yennie, American actress
Fictional characters
- Aisling, the titular subject in the song "Aisling", on Shane MacGowan's 1994 album The Snake
- Aisling, the main character in Malinda Lo's novel Ash
- Aisling in the Irish animated TV programme Ballybraddan
- Aisling in the anonymous novel Diary of an Oxygen Thief
- Aisling, a hero in the video game Gigantic
- Aisling in the novel Son of the Shadows
- Aisling, aspiring film director in the play Stones in His Pockets
- Aisling, a young faerie girl in the animated film The Secret of Kells
- Ashlynn in the video game Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation
- Aisling, the protagonist of the Aisling book series by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen, Irish Book Awards 2018 & 2019 winner
- Ashling, the Pilgrim, a character in the TCG Magic: The Gathering female fire elemental, traveling through her world
- Aisling, a recurring character in the British-made sitcom Derry Girls
- Queen Aislinn, wife of the tyrant King Freyne and mother of King Einon in the movie Dragonheart
- Ashelin in the Jak and Daxter video game series, introduced in Jak II
- Aisling Duval, a princess of the Empire in the video game Elite: Dangerous
- Aislinn Foy, the main character in Melissa Marr's novel Wicked Lovely
- Aisling Laffrey, a character in the video game Path of Exile, member of Immortal Syndicate
- Aisling "Ash" McCarthy, one of the two main characters in the novel Like
- Aisling O'Connor, a main character in the novel Light a Penny Candle
- Aisling O'Dowd, a character in the television show Can't Cope, Won't Cope
- Aisling Querelle, a character in the television show Carnival Row
- Aislinn Wishart, a character in the Japanese manga Saki