Niamh

[NoTeaForMe]

Hi all,

Do you think you need to have Irish connections to use the name Niamh? Personally I think you do for names like Aoife but is Niamh a bit more widely used in England that we could use it without raised eyebrows?!

Thanks

I love it, but I might be biased. My niece is called Niamh. I apporve of your spelling too, there is a Neve in dd1's school.

I think something like Caitlin is a name that has become so anglicised it's not really "Irish" anymore (plus different pronounciation) but Niamh still seems like an Irish name to me. Do you have no connections at all - Irish grandparent or something?

its in the top 100 names (for 2009) so i think its widely enough used for people to recognise the name and pronounce properly without been irish.

i'd definately stick with the niamh spelling too.

I wouldn't have thought these days you have to have connections to any country to use the names. Use whatever you like, it's your child, and your choice! :)
Niamh is lovely btw.

No I'm Irish and have considered Welsh names with no connections and I like the fact that Irish names are becoming accepted in England so there may come a day where we don't have to spell them out!

There is a little Niamh is dd's class (not sure if she has any Irish connections) and I find it a lovely name - no issues with pronunciation at all.

I love the name Niamh, and would know how to pronounce it. If I was to use it, as we dont have any Irish ancestry, I would spell it Neve. Like Neve Campbell.

Lovely name, agree that it's widely known enough to use whatever your background. But please keep the Niamh spelling as it's a different name. It's pronounced Nee-uhv rather than Neeve.

Thanks for the input! Should I now admit that I'm not even pregnant at the moment?!?! My husband and I were talking the other day about names that go with our daughters name and our chosen middle name and we both love this name but were discussing about whether we could use it having no Irish ancestry!

Gwendoline I always thought you pronounced it Neev....is that not right?!

I'm presuming it's better to spell it Niamh or can I use Neve?

I know it's a completely hypothetical question just wondering!!

Thanks

Love the name but prefer the spelling Neve

Neev is more of an anglicised pronounciation, originally it is pronounced with a sort of soft second syllable.

I believe Neve Campbell's name is actually pronounced Nev by the way, and isn't related to the name Niamh.

No, not really. Niamh has two syllables, as Rita says, the second syllable is very soft but there nonetheless.

Neve is a separate name and not as nice