Aine

Aine, properly written Áine, comes from an Old Irish word meaning radiance, splendour or brilliance. In Irish mythology Áine is a goddess of summer, wealth and sovereignty, and she is closely linked with the hill of Cnoc Áine, anglicised as Knockainey, in County Limerick, where midsummer rites were once held in her honour. Medieval genealogies trace several Munster families, including the Fitzgeralds of Desmond, to unions with the goddess. The name is pronounced AWN-ya in Irish. It has sometimes been anglicised as Anne or Anna, though the two names are unrelated in origin, and the Russian Anya is sometimes used as a phonetic stand-in.