Maeve facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Maeve |
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Queen Maeve and the Druid, by illustrator Stephen Reid from the 1904 book The Boys' Cuchulainn by Eleanor Hull.
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| Pronunciation | /meɪv/ mayv |
| Gender | Female |
| Origin | |
| Word/Name | Irish |
| Place of origin | Europe |
Maeve, Maev or Maiv is a female given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish name Méabh, which was spelt Meadhbh in early modern Irish (IPA: [mɛɣv]), Meḋḃ or Meaḋḃ in Middle Irish, and Medb in Old Irish (IPA: [mɛðv]). It may derive from a word meaning "she who intoxicates", "mead-woman", or alternatively "she who rules". Medb is a queen in Irish mythology who is thought to have originally been a sovereignty goddess.
Usage
Maeve (in that spelling) was a Top 100 girls' name in Ireland for all but 12 of the 46 years between 1964 and 2009, and Meabh ranked 99th on the list of the most popular Irish girls' names of 2020. In Northern Ireland, Maeve was a Top 100 girls' name between 1997 and 2004, and Meabh ranked 44th in 2017. It ranked 218th on the list of most popular names for girls in England and Wales in 2020 and had risen in popularity to 94th position in 2020 in those countries. It has ranked among the top 100 names for girls since 2020 in Scotland, where it was the 72nd most popular name in 2021. It has also increased in usage in the Netherlands, where it was among the top 500 names for girls in 2014 and again between 2017 and 2021. It was the 44th most common name for newborn Dutch girls in 2021. Maeve has ranked among the 1,000 most popular names for girls born in the United States since 1997, among the top 500 names since 2013, and among the top 150 names since 2021.
People with the given name
- Medb, Queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology
- Medb ingen Indrechtach mac Muiredaig, Princess of Connacht, fl. 800
- Maeve Binchy (1940–2012), Irish writer
- Maeve Brennan (1917–1993), Irish short story writer and journalist
- Maeve Dermody (born 1985), Australian actress
- Maeve Fort (born 1940), British diplomat
- Maeve Gilmore (1917–1983), British artist and wife of Mervyn Peake
- Maeve Harris (born 1976), American abstract painter
- Maeve Higgins (born 1981), Irish comedian
- Maeve Hillery (née Finnegan), retired Irish doctor, the widow of Patrick Hillery, President of Ireland 1976–90
- Maeve Ingoldsby (born 1947), Irish writer
- Maeve Jinkings (born 1976), Brazilian actress
- Maeve Kelly (born 1930), Irish writer
- Maeve Kennedy McKean, American attorney and academic
- Maeve Kinkead (born 1946), American actress
- Meave Leakey, paleontologist, born 1942
- Maeve Ludlow, fictional character from Doctors
- Maeve McCarthy, Irish mathematician
- Maeve McGuire (born 1937), American actress
- Maeve Murphy, Irish screenwriter and film director
- Maeve O'Boyle (born 1987), Scottish singer-songwriter
- Maeve O'Donovan (born 1990), Irish singer
- Maeve Quaid, Canadian academic
- Maeve Quinlan (born 1964), American actress and tennis player
- Maeve Sherlock (born 1960), British peer
Other
- Queen Maeve International Summer School, or Scoil Samhraidh Miosgán Medbha, one of Ireland's traditional music summer schools
- Stella Maeve (born 1989), American actress
