How about Neve?

[Maternelle]

DS is Finn, DD1 has a name from my culture (although her second name is Maeve), and ampg with DC3.
DH is Irish but we live abroad, so I can't have Niamh as it would just be a nightmare.

I quite like Neve. Would love some feedback. Thanks!

I wouldn't if you were going to spell it like that.

Ok, Irish names that I like easy to pronounce in France are hard to come by...

Aine?

Caera?

Triona?

Orla?

These would be easy enough to pronounce in French, maybe?

I love Neve but I'm biased.We have one and she's gorgeous.

Id go with Niamh and make people learn how to say it..

I don't like names ending in A. Sorry. How do you pronounce Aine? Is the spelling Neve a no-no?

Are you in Ireland WhyMeWhyNot?

My best friend just had one and she's lovely. :)

Surely Neve would be mispronounced in France anyway... (Umm... not sure how... but kind of rhyming with 'neige' only with a 'v' maybe? Like Nev! Not good!)

Also Neve looks to me like the Italian word for snow (pronounced nay-vay). I thought it was ironic, given the current weather conditions! (Like calling a boy born on Christmas Day Noel!)

I think you either go with Niamh and tell people how to pronounce it as you go along. Or you find a name that's written as it's pronounced (Orla works). Or have an Irish middle name, so it's there and part of her heritage but she doesn't have to spell it out all the time.

Aine is pronounced (approx.) 'on-ya', so not obvious at all.

Aine....AWN-ye

I would stick with the correct spelling of Niamh.

I actually prefer the Neve spelling. Lovely name.

Has to be spelled properly if you're going to use it. Neve looks silly. Lovely name though but agree you might be better with something like Orla.

We live abroad and wanted an Irish name (DH is Irish), so went for Niamh as a middle name. Because it's not the name DD is known by every day, it's hardly ever been questioned by the locals. Neve gives me the shivers, sorry.

OK :-(
I spend my life spelling my name so I don't want this for my kids.

I think Neve is fine. How about Sile (Sheila)?

I like the spelling of Sile but not keen on the sound Sheila.

Sorry, hate Neve. Would make me think the person who'd named them either couldn't spell or was going for a La-a (LaDasha, anyone?!) kind of 'interesting' spelling.

I wanted Niamh or Sinead for DD but was persuaded to a less oddly (to non-Irish eyes) spelt name (Caitlin).

Actually, Sinead is more well-known now thanks to Ms O'Connor, so that's a possibility...?

Beautiful name but please don't spell it 'Neve'. I have a pet hate of that sort of thing, the name is unique because of what it means and it only means what it means because of how it is spelled. Niamh means radiance, Neve, on the other hand, means nothing.

I have an Orla (very simple). Other simple Irish names (which can be spelled as pronounced) include

Brona
Brigid
Cara
Carmel
Colleen
Dana
Emer
Lara (with fada - like an accent - on first a)
Molly
Mona
Nessa
Nora
Una

These are acceptable (in Ireland) spellings although some also have alternatives which are more Gaelic.

Can't remember if it was OP who didn't like names ending in 'a' but it's a fairly restricted list when you take those ones out I suppose!

maternelle no not in Ireland but Irish Grandad.{my Dad}.

When Neve was born prematurely she was rushed through to special care who asked if she was named. Daddy said yes she's called Niamh and rushed off back to very poorly Mummy with swine flu.
When he returned to her incubator a little later the end of her cot had a big friendly poster saying Neve with lots of lovely little drawings all hand-done. The nurse was from Romania and had spelt it as she thought right. He didn't want to tempt fate by taking it down and changing it. She was so poorly.

Aw, that is a nice Neve story! Maeve seems to be an acceptable spelling (thanks to Ms Binchy), rather than the correct one which has many consonants. Would it work?

I like the spelling Neve. I think it's easy to be judgmental about spelling when you're from the particular culture the name comes from, but literally no one would know how to pronounce it spelt Niamh in France. It would be a big cultural barrier for a child already destined to be different from her friends, which I imagine you don't want to happen.

Go with it.

Neve isn't pronounced the same as Niamh, it rhymes with Bev.

It's not judgemental. We were asked for opinions and gave them. I find it a little odd to write off a whole nation as unable to spell the name. They'd learn. I went to school with a girl with the longest Sri Lankan name I had ever seen. We soon learned how to spell it. It's a cop out to say otherwise.

Bernardette?

I have an old Breton name and half of my Breton family can't pronounce it, let even spell it.
So I am basing my asumptions on personal experience.
I you live in a multi-cultural city, people are better at learning new names and making sure they pronounce it properly. Less so in a very traditional rural area.