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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Maeve, Niamh, and names like them?

37 replies

Caimor23 · 11/07/2018 22:05

Hi all,

DH and I have fallen in love with the name Maeve for our future baby (if it's a girl, won't know until it's born!), and we also love the name Niamh. Only issue? I'm American and I know some of my American relatives will struggle to spell either of them correctly... They still don't spell my name correctly and I've been in the family for nearly 30 years now!

So, I'm wondering if any of you lovely people have any names that are similar to Maeve and Niamh that we can add to our "just in case the baby's not a Maeve" list? Relatively easy to spell and pronounce. Also, something that seems strong to appeal to the feminist in me and yet still feminine?

Big ask, I know.

TIA xx

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Enko · 11/07/2018 23:07

Aoife pronounced as Kiefer without the K

No its really not.. Aoife is pronounced E-Fah NOT efer...

MrStarkIDontFeelSoGood · 11/07/2018 22:55

Coimhe can be spelt Keavy as that is how it’s proniubced

Aisling pronounced Ashlynne

Ailish pronounced Aylish

Aoife pronounced as Kiefer without the K

Meandyoumake2 · 11/07/2018 22:55

Even people in Ireland can have difficulty spelling so don't worry! Niamh and aoife are my favs! Like caoimhe too. And ruari and Connor - could go on lol

Original poster
Caimor23 · 11/07/2018 22:55

These are great! I'll have to go through these all with DH and see what he thinks :) I think we may have a few to add to our list though!

OP posts:
Tumon · 11/07/2018 22:50

Ailbhe (pronounced Al-va) it’s Irish and so lovely . Could spell how it sounds?

Sugarpiehoneyeye · 11/07/2018 22:44

Daphne
Clodagh

ErrantBakedBean · 11/07/2018 22:41

haribo Nimueh is beautiful but I fear she'd get The Lion Sleeps Tonight sung at her.

haribosmarties · 11/07/2018 22:34

Nimueh? (Nim-ooh-ay).......Lady of the Lake
Iseult
Erin
Merryn
Lyra
Bronwin
Alastrine
Alys
Eithne
Dymphna
Cerys
Ondine

IVflytrap · 11/07/2018 22:32

I have seen Niamh spelt Neve when used by people in the US before. Is that a possibility?

I'm not sure what the problem with Maeve would be because it works with English phonetics, and it's only 5 letters long. If you're just looking for more common names that people will have heard of then how about:

Nina
Orla
Moira
May
Fiona
Ava
Eve
Evelyn
Alma
Keira
Phoebe
Leona
Vivian
Iona

purpleme12 · 11/07/2018 22:18

I like Aoife

bebehen · 11/07/2018 22:17

They are lovely names :)

In Ireland , a beautiful and popular name at the moment is Fiadh - pronounced Fee-ah

I also think if you want to keep to an Irish name Siofra could work?
Pronounced She-o-frah

A name that could be recognisable in the US now is Saoirse - because oft the actress the ac Saoirse Ronan

:)

purpleme12 · 11/07/2018 22:11

I like them. I know those spellings you mentioned (and also Neve) but yes I reckon you'll get a lot of people who don't know how to spell it. I never even thought I'd have a problem with people spelling my daughter's but I do!