Maeve
Meaning
she who intoxicates; a beloved queen of Irish mythology, rising fast today
Say it: MAYV
The story
Maeve is the anglicized spelling of the Irish Medb, and she is not a gentle figure. In the Ulster Cycle she is the queen of Connacht who starts a war over a bull, commands armies, and is described in terms that make later editors uncomfortable. Her name is traditionally read as she who intoxicates, in the sense of one who makes others drunk with her, which is a claim about power rather than charm. English speakers took the sound and left the spelling behind, since Medb does not look like how it sounds. In US records Maeve was almost absent until recently: about 330 babies in the 1980s, 1,450 in the 1990s, 4,100 in the 2000s, and nearly 16,000 so far this decade. Our own data files it in both our Irish and Irish American communities.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Maeve peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
318 people · the #18,259 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 500,000 · median age 29
Among people named Maeve living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 55 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Maeve
Most people given the name Maeve in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Maeve deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Maeve truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Maeve fits with your family’s names and surname.
Where Maeve travels
Irish · she who intoxicates (legendary warrior queen of Connacht)
Keep exploring
Names like Maeve · Irish baby names · Irish American baby names
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