Neve, Nieve or Niamh?

Tinkerhel It's not Nia-uv, but Nee-uv.

The A element of the IA dipthong is pronounced as a schwa (a neutral vowel sound) not an outright A.

The schwa is denoted in dictionaries by the symbol 'ə'. It's used in millions of words in every language.

* mh makes a v sound in the Irish language, enile.*

If there’s a “joke” involved, it’s on you that you didn’t know this but took the piss anyway.

The whole point of the joke is that 'mh' makes a v sound in Irish.

I think you're getting mad at the wrong person!

I much prefer Niamh.

Pendant alert for the following!

The reasons why Irish Gaelic spelling is 'different' from English is because Gaelic contains different sounds (phonemes) from English. When Irish was/is written down using the English language alphabet, various different combinations of letters had/have to be used to represent the different sounds.

As many of the the previous posters have shown, there is no neat and easy way to reproduce the Gaelic sounds of 'Naimh' in English language spelling. It is not exactly the name as Neeve or even Neave, though I would say that is slightly closer.

eniledam plus my sister Niamh thinks that's hilarious.

We nabbed our baby with a traditional gaelic spelling - along with his double barreled surname, no hypen, it is a mouthful to spell out each time. And my side of the family can't pronounce it at all 🙄

But we love it so much that it's worth the painful spelling and mispronouncations. Hopefully he will love it too.

My daughter is called Niamh. We live in England and I am English and DH is Irish. I think Niamh is so common over here that most people recognise it when they see it written and pronounce it correctly. My other daughter however has a name which is really common in Ireland but less so in England and no one ever pronounces it correctly!

Niamh. If you're going to go with an Irish name, then use the traditional spelling.
I have an Irish friend called Caoilfhionn. Work that one out ;)

I think we got it, just found it a bit offensive, there’s a difference

eniledam

Autistic here... this sometimes goes over my head.

@AlpacaLypse Thank you!

@amusedbush It was a joke! A play on the word 'peeve'. Wow.

People say names differently, depending on their accents. DH and I pronounce our children's names differently because our accents differ -they're still the same name! Just as we'd pronounce 'door' differently, it's still the same word! So call her whichever one you like and pronounce it as you like. I'm in Scotland and people here would generally pronounce 'Niamh' as 'Neev' and assume 'Neev' was spelled 'Niamh', but I suppose it depends on your area. Both my DCs have names with multiple spellings, it really doesn't bother me if people spell them wrong, but if you think it'd bother you you might want to look at other names

I like your joke @eniledam even if some others don't get it!

Definitely Niamh. I've known how to pronounce it (and Grainne and Siobhan and Aoife etc) for at least 20 years and am not Irish (or Scots), have no family who are, and have never lived there.

mh makes a v sound in the Irish language, enile.
If there’s a “joke” involved, it’s on you that you didn’t know this but took the piss anyway.

The fact that Niamh isn't spelled how it sounds is my biggest pet piamh.

Don't be a dick.

It is spelled how it sounds. Siobhan, Caiomh, Aoife and Meadhbh are also spelled how they sound... in Irish.

I think English monoglot speakers need to learn how to say and spell Gaelic names, it's not hard. Go with Niamh, your DH is wrong with this one, many, if not most people do actually know how to say it.

Im with the Niamh brigade. Like the first commentor, I prefer a traditional spelling.... also from midlands if Ireland (offaly to be precise), its nee- v to me, also my youngest cousins name. Maybe the pronounciation is an accent thing. Nia-uv sounds northern to me (weird) - anyway I digress, I like the traditional Irish spelling

I notice in Marian Keyes' new novel the DD is Neeve, so if she can spell it like that, then I reckon it must be ok

That will be a nudge from her editor with an eye to the UK and US marketplace, though, rather than any indication that Irish people regularly use Neeve.

If you like Niamh call her Niamh and spell it properly - if you want and easy to spell name which will confuse no one then pick something else. Misspelling it will not make things simpler it will only add an extra layer of complication - she’ll still have to tell people how to spell it, people will will still spell it wrong and she’ll have to explain why it is spelled the way it is to people who were expecting the traditional spelling. Lovely name, but mispronunciation and having to spell it comes with the territory unless you live in Ireland.

@Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar
Think you might have missed the joke

love Niamh

It is spelled how it sounds, enile.
In Irish

The fact that Niamh isn't spelled how it sounds is my biggest pet piamh.

oh gosh amusedbush

Can you imagine when she is learning to read/spell?

"I asked my niece Nieve to sieve the potatoes"

I always thought it just HAD to be Niamh, and winced at all other spellings, but I notice in Marian Keyes' new novel the DD is Neeve, so if she can spell it like that, then I reckon it must be ok and it gets the Balloon seal of approval.

Niamh. Incorrectly spelled Irish names look terrible, to be honest. A girl I went to school with posted on facebook about her new baby called Nieve and it just looks like she can't bloody spell.