Maeve

Maeve meaning

Maeve is an international girl's name of Irish origin.

From Old Irish Medb; medb, "strong, intoxicating" (of drink)

Also used to mean: she who intoxicates, mead woman

Maeve is the English spelling of the Old Irish name Medb (Modern Irish Méabh or Meadhbh). The Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language records an adjective medb, "strong, intoxicating", used of liquor, though it marks that sense as uncertain, and the usual explanation links the name to mid, "mead". Hence the popular meaning "she who intoxicates". Medb is the fierce queen of Connacht in the Táin Bó Cúailnge, the great Irish epic, who goes to war for the Brown Bull of Cooley. Maeve is said MAYV, a single syllable that sits easily with Indian surnames.

Source: eDIL, Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language · entry medb · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: eDIL, medb · Wikipedia, Medb

Famous namesakes

• Medb, warrior queen of Connacht in the Táin Bó Cúailnge
• Maeve Binchy, Irish novelist

Popularity abroad

• #76 United States, girls 2025 (down 1 from 75 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #26 England and Wales, girls 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Spellings

Maeve · Maev · Medbh · Meabh

Related names

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