Maeve

updated Sept 2015

Maeve ~ Intoxicating; She who intoxicates ~ Irish

statue of Queen Medb, Dublin, Ireland

Pronunciation
Maeve is a one-syllable name and is pronounced MAYV. Just to be clear, it rhymes with save and cave. I personally love the look of the spelling. Even though it may be confusing for some people on the first encounter, the "ae" softens this name for me quite a bit. (If you thought Maeve looked tough to pronounce, try the original Gaelic: Méadhbh.)

History
Maeve is a spirited Irish folklore name coming from the Gaelic Méadhbh and Medb, meaning "she who intoxicates". Queen Medb is a character from Irish mythology who is jealous of her husband's wealth, wages war in order to gain a stud bull that will rival her husband's, and has an array of lovers. (Those are just the highlights, you can read the longer story here.)

Medb is also referred to as a Fairy Queen. And some say that Shakespeare's Queen Mab, a fairy from Romeo & Juliet, gets her name from Queen Medb.

Maeve is an ancient name that is held dear to many because of its Irish roots and powerful personality. To the Irish in particular, Maeve will sound like a strong warrior. Any way you look at it, this name has a story to tell.

Popularity
Maeve is having a moment here in the US. Take a look at the line graph from the Baby Name Wizard's NameVoyager tool, which depicts popularity over time:

Maeve is steadily rising. It sits at #482 (updated from 2014 stats) out of the top 1,000 names in the US. That's not a popular name, but I do imagine that Maeve will continue to go up the charts for a few more years. Maeve first got my attention years ago while browsing baby naming boards online—it seems especially popular among name lovers.

Variations

• Mab
• Maeva
• Maive
• Mayve
• Meabh
• Meav
• Meibh

Famous Namesakes & Celebrity Babies

• Actor Chris O'Donell's daughter
• Actress Lili Taylor's daughter
• Actress Maeve Quinlan
• Irish author Maeve Brennan