Maeve
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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.
How popular is Maeve around the world?
In the United States, 15,893 babies were named Maeve between 2020 and 2025. In Scotland, 129 girls named Maeve were registered in 2024, the 25th most common name among girls that year.
Maeve is on the official records of the United States, Scotland, England and Wales, New Zealand, Ireland, Canada, New South Wales, South Australia, Austria, France, Poland, Chile, Brazil and Spain.
United States
1 in 1,400
In the United States, 15,893 babies were named Maeve between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Maeve peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Scotland
1 in 350
In Scotland, 129 girls named Maeve were registered in 2024, the 25th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
England and Wales
1 in 440
In England and Wales, 1,330 girls named Maeve were born in 2025, the 26th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
New Zealand
1 in 630
In New Zealand, 91 girls named Maeve were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Ireland
1 in 650
In Ireland, 83 girls named Maeve were born in 2025, the 60th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Canada
1 in 850
In Canada, 432 girls named Maeve were born in 2024, the 46th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
New South Wales
#38 · 2025
In New South Wales, 158 girls named Maeve were registered in 2025, ranked 38th in that year’s top 100 for girls.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
South Australia
1 in 2,3002017
In South Australia, 8 girls were registered as Maeve in 2017.
The count never rose above 9 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Austria
1 in 25,000
In Austria, 3 girls named Maeve were born in 2025, ranked 1,026th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
France
1 in 26,000
In France, about 25 girls named Maeve were born in 2025, ranked 1,323rd among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. This registry counts each spelling separately; the figures above are for the exact spelling Maeve, and accented spellings are separate names. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Poland
1 in 82,000
In Poland, 3 girls named Maeve were born in 2025, the 583rd most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Chile
1 in 89,000
In Chile, 2 girls were registered as Maeve in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Brazil
1 in 500,000
At the 2022 census, 318 people in Brazil were named Maeve, ranked 18,259th, with a median age of 29.
Among people named Maeve living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 55 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Spain
1 in 550,000
In Spain, 82 residents are named Maeve, ranked 9,127th among women, with a mean age of 17.9 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Argentina
last on record 2020
Maeve is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Montevideo City
last on record 1978
Maeve is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Not on the record in Mexico City and Puerto Rico: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
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.
Where Maeve travels
Irish · she who intoxicates (legendary warrior queen of Connacht)
Keep exploring
Names like Maeve · Irish baby names · Irish American baby names · Nickname-proof names
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.
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