Niamh

Not to be confused with Naomh.

Niamh
PronunciationEnglish: /niːv, ˈniːəv/ NEEV, NEE-əv[1]
Irish: [n̠ʲiəw]
Genderfeminine
Language(s)Irish
Origin
Word/nameIreland
Meaningbright, radiant
Region of originIreland
Other names
Related namesNia
Popularitysee popular names

Niamh (Irish: [n̠ʲiəw]; from Old Irish Niaṁ) is an Irish feminine given name (meaning "bright" or "radiant"),[2] anglicised as Neve, Nieve, Neave, Neavh or Neeve.[3]

In Irish mythology, Niamh is the daughter of the god of the sea, Manannán mac Lir and one of the queens of Tír na nÓg, the land of eternal youth. She was the lover of the poet-hero Oisín. The first recorded use of Niamh (that spelling) as a given name in modern Ireland was in 1911, when two children were registered with the name and when a Niamh was listed in that year's census.[4][5][6]

  1. ^ Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
  2. ^ Niamh in Ó Dónaill, Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (1977), accessed 8 August 2020
  3. ^ Niamh (behindthename.com) (accessed 8 August 2020), Neave (babynamesofireland.com), MFnames.com - Origin and Meaning of Neve (mfnames.com) Archived 2012-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "Niamh Maire Fitzgerald in the Ireland, Civil Registration Births Index, 1864-1958". Ancestry.com.
  5. ^ "Niamh O'Connell in the Ireland, Civil Registration Births Index, 1864-1958". Ancestry.com.
  6. ^ "Niamh Máire Nic Ghearailt in the Web: Ireland, Census, 1911". Ancestry.com. 1911. Retrieved 26 December 2018.