girl's name
Maeve
MAYV
- Origin Irish
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 100 (US)
- Births on record 47,023
the United States
#76
2025 births
Maeve is a girl's name of Irish origin, anglicized from Medb, usually translated as "she who intoxicates" or "intoxicating." Medb is the warrior queen of Connacht who drives the plot of the Táin Bó Cúailnge, the central epic of early Irish literature.
- Maeve is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 3,153 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,051 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1940.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Maeve over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1940s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1940s | 50 |
| 1950s | 74 |
| 1960s | 102 |
| 1970s | 89 |
| 1980s | 333 |
| 1990s | 1,450 |
| 2000s | 4,072 |
| 2010s | 7,545 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 15,893 |
What Maeve means
Maeve means she who intoxicates, from a root connected to mead and to intoxication. The sense is generally read as one who rules or overwhelms rather than anything to do with drinking, since the same Indo-European root links mead to sovereignty in early Irish kingship ritual.
Where Maeve comes from
Maeve is the anglicized form of the Old Irish Medb, from a root meaning mead or intoxication — connected to the English mead through a shared Indo-European ancestor. The link is not incidental: early Irish kingship involved a ritual in which the sovereignty goddess offered a drink to the rightful king, and Medb is widely read as a euhemerized sovereignty figure rather than a purely historical queen. In the Táin Bó Cúailnge she is queen of Connacht and launches the cattle raid that drives the epic, opposed by the young hero Cú Chulainn. The name was rare outside Ireland until the twentieth century and has risen sharply in recent decades.
Maeve in use
Medb's name links her to mead, which in early Irish tradition was offered by a goddess to confirm a king's right to rule.
How popular is Maeve?
In 2025, Maeve was given to 3,153 babies in the United States, ranking #76 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Where Maeve is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Maeve is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Maëve | Maëve is Maeve written with a diaeresis, used in France, where it ranks #1,553. | 130 |
| Maève | Maève is a rare spelling of Maeve, written with a grave accent and recorded about 35 times, mostly in France. | 35 |
| Maëvé | Maëvé is a rare spelling of Maeve, written with an acute accent and recorded about 5 times, mostly in France. | 5 |
Names that peaked alongside Maeve
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Maeve also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Maeve over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Maeve in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Estonian
- Maive
Sibling names for Maeve
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Maeve — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Maeve
What does the name Maeve mean?
Maeve means "she who intoxicates," from the Old Irish Medb.
Who was Queen Medb?
The queen of Connacht in the Táin Bó Cúailnge, whose cattle raid drives the central epic of early Irish literature.
How do you pronounce Maeve?
MAYV, rhyming with wave.
How popular is the name Maeve?
In 2025, Maeve was given to 3,153 babies in the United States, ranking #76 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Is Maeve a girl's or a boy's name?
Maeve is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Maeve?
Maeve has 2 syllables.
When was Maeve most popular?
Maeve peaked in 2025, when 3,153 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Maeve a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Maeve currently ranks #25 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.