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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Neve, Nieve or Niamh?

165 replies

orangeunicorn · 28/08/2018 23:53

Ttc at the moment but already set on a girls name. Just curious as to how people think it's best spelt

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Momma22 · 03/09/2018 02:52

Niamh

IHaveBrilloHair · 01/09/2018 22:27

Niamh.
Mine is now 17, I've had no regrets, it's a great name.

aybeeseedee · 01/09/2018 22:24

Niamh

Regardless of what your husband thinks the child will go through life having the name mis spelt because there's so many variations now! Beautiful name though.

MikeUniformMike · 01/09/2018 21:50

Neva.

littlelovely · 01/09/2018 20:34

I have a Neve. I am not Irish and Niamh wouldn't have worked for us, as my extended family are not English and would struggle with that spelling and pronunciation. I also like the fact that it means snow in Italian (even though pronounced differently), as that's relevant to us.

It was also chosen by the prime minister of New Zealand for her daughter!

Honeybee79 · 01/09/2018 20:10

Niamh is a beautiful name.

Tbh, even if you have a fairly common place name (as I do) you still get asked to spell it a fair amount. I think Niamh is now popular enough for most people to know how to pronounce it.

IggyAce · 01/09/2018 11:55

I know several, 2 are spelt Neve and the other Neave.

Redteapot67 · 01/09/2018 09:14

I will get my niamh to learn her name by explaining that it’s irish - therefore it’s spelt

N, ia (ee in Irish), mh (v in Irish).

It’s a different language not a random collection of letters

mathanxiety · 01/09/2018 05:13

Sunflower321
I wonder how Niamh will learn to spell her name? Assuming she's in England. That must be very confusing.

The same way all the English-speaking Irish children learn to spell their Irish names if they have one - child learns from the parents, both orally and in writing.

English-speaking children do not have an innate preference for the English language in all its quirks.

Children absorb details like sponges. The process is made easier by the absence of mental blocks.

Halfahunnerstillastunner · 31/08/2018 23:48

Another vote for Niamh.

Neve looks like it should be said as 'nev' to me, not 'neev'. Being used to seeing words like ever and never with an 'eh' not 'ee' sound, I guess.

Glad your DH has seen sense and best of luck for your little Niamh Bean to Be!

Bimgy85 · 31/08/2018 22:58

Lol Niamh is the only way I've ever seen it spelt. And I'm old.

Neve would remind me of a males name in like..Spain or something

saratustra · 31/08/2018 22:51

Nieve means snow in Spanish (sorry if already said). Also slang for cocaine.

RavenWings · 31/08/2018 22:21

I wonder how Niamh will learn to spell her name? Assuming she's in England. That must be very confusing.

And I'd presume you'd say the same to a Phoebe, Chloe, Isla, Geoffrey, Hermione, Joaquin, Margot, Yvonne... Yet mysteriously it's just the names that aren't typically British that get this Little Englander critique.

TheDowagerCuntess · 31/08/2018 22:10

And besides, the child knows exactly how their name is pronounced, what with it being their name, and having being called it since birth.

So they're hardly going to think, 'oh actually, my name's pronounced [entirely different pronunciation]'.

Ohyesiam · 31/08/2018 22:09

I was taught to read and write by word recognition, not phonics. So I knew my dd Niamh would easily learn to write her name , which she did at 3.

TheDowagerCuntess · 31/08/2018 22:08

Wondering how a child will learn to spell its own name is ... bizarre. Sorry.

Sunflower321 · 31/08/2018 22:06

Nothing is insurmountable. Just a factor to consider. I thought that the op is looking for opinions.

TheDowagerCuntess · 31/08/2018 22:03

Because most kids would pronounce Niamh as Nee-am-h.

So, instead of getting a small child to try to guess it as you say it out loud (why would you do this?), write the word down, and let them copy it.

That's how I taught my DC to write their own name.

Again - this really isn't some insurmountable hurdle.

Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar · 31/08/2018 22:02

How do the Wiktoria’s and Aleksandria’s manage? Not everybody living on this fair isle is quintessentially English, you know.

Redteapot67 · 31/08/2018 22:00

Sunflower but that’s because they are pronouncing it in English, not Irish.
Irish is a different language. The letters have different sounds. Why should an Irish name be spelt in English?

Sunflower321 · 31/08/2018 21:58

Because most kids would pronounce Niamh as Nee-am-h.

soupforbrains · 31/08/2018 16:37

Late to the party Niamh would have got my vote too. I am irish and adore Irish names. People in general in England are better with the spelling and pronunciation than they used to be too.

Glad you DH has seen sense OP

Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar · 31/08/2018 16:25

Why would being in England impede a child learning to spell their own name?

TheDowagerCuntess · 31/08/2018 16:17

I wonder how Niamh will learn to spell her name? Assuming she's in England. That must be very confusing.

Write the word down. Child copies.

It's not rocket science.

BlaaBlaaBlaa · 31/08/2018 14:00

Niamh is the correct spelling

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