Niamh or Neve????

[plumblusher]

Although I like the Name Niamh/Neve, the spelling of it I've always thought a bit strange (as a child trying to sound it out to spell at school). Does anyone know a Neve spelt this way? Cos I quite like Isla Neve.

Wiki might, my cousin Niamh, my friend Niamh and my sons classmate Niamh don't!

Wiki also says that Oisin is pronounce OH-sheen, when its Uh-sheen, so I'm not going to trust wiki on this one.

Well I'm in Leinster so maybe it's a regional thing. I'm now thinking back to all the Niamh's I've know and they've all been Nee-uvs. Big Nee, small uv.

The word ends in mh so the last sound has to be v.

Another vote for Niamh. Lovely name.

Pronounced nee-ev. Mh making a kind of soft v sound, like in 'a mháthair' or 'a mhuire'. Saying that, it's always difficult to phonetically spell Irish words because A it's so different to English and B as there are so many regional variations and accents.

All the Munster Niamhs I know are NEE-uv

Niamh or not at all

There was a hilarious thread a few months back with mis-pronunciations of names. Twas ruddy hilarious

It's here

Another vote for Niamh (pronounced roughly 'NEE-uv') or not at all. Nice to see it being revived.

I like the spelling Niamh

But isn't the NEE-uv way of saying it more an Irish accent thing rather than a correct pronounciation thing?

eg - if you're Irish you pronounce 'eight' as 'Eigh-ut' (can't write it but with 2 syllables anyway) don't you? So Niamh would become NEE-uv.

Not sure it means that a one syllable Niamh (said Neev) is necessarily wrong)

Niamh

Niamh...its a beautiful name..and so what if people dont get it in one go..they will always remember meeting one!

Niamh looks and sounds beautiful, and is the correct spelling. I always think it is a shame that people ruin it by anglicising the spelling. I would say use this spelling or not at all.

There's a Neve in DS's class. Feels a bit "made up" to me... Prefer Niamh.

Niamh, every time

I may be a bit biased but Niamh is how it should be :o

Niamh

My dd has Neve as her middle name purely because i like that way of spelling it , she is 4 and is adamant she doesn't have a middle name

Niamh is a beautiful name and so is the 14 year old sat next to me telling me to tell everyone its NIAMH not Neve or Neave or Niave.

I'm sure it is an Irish accent thing. They pronounce the vowel as a diphthong, whereas in many other accents (including some Irish ones - let's bear in mind that there are many, many Irish accents) it would be a monophthong. The second pronunciation isn't incorrect - it's just an approximation towards the original Irish pronunciation, which of course is said with an Irish accent. In order to be entirely authentic we would have to pronounce it with an Irish accent, which would be funny but ridiculous.

It's like my sister's name, Mhairi. It's usually pronounced 'varry' - in Scotland, that's 'var-ray'. In England/Ireland, it's 'var-ree'. 'Var-ree' is not wrong. It's just the same name, said with a different accent.

Swoosh and hardcheese are right - correct pronunciation is with two syllables ie nee-ev

Neve is Italian for snow?

No, Manicinsomniac, it's not 'an Irish accent thing', it's the way the Irish language is pronounced. Niamh, which is an Irish-language name, is always a diphthong. Obviously, the OP is at liberty to anglicise it should she wish to, but that's a different issue, and she should know how it's pronounced in Irish before making that call.

I doubt any Irish person would spontaneously pronounce your sister's (kovely) name as 'Var-ee' - the equivalent version of 'Mary' in Irish is 'Máire', pronounced 'Moir-uh' or 'Moy-uh', depending on region.

Neve if not in Ireland
Niamh in Ireland

Naimh it's so popular most people ca pronounce it. And don't worry about pronouncing it wrong, it will be pronounced with an Eglish accent just as Caitlin would - it doesn't sound the same with an Irish accent as an English one, but is still the same name.

I'm from Leinster, went to a Gaelscoil and am a primary teacher in Munster and everyone I have ever met pronounces it Nee-ve

Niamh. Just doesn't look right the other way.