Maeve

About Maeve

Maeve is an anglicized form of Irish Medb, meaning “intoxicating.” A legendary queen of Connacht gives it an unusually forceful literary history, while novelist Maeve Binchy supplies a modern connection with Irish storytelling. Its single syllable and silent final e make the English form compact on the page.

Irish forms and pronunciation

Medb is the older form behind Maeve, with modern Irish spellings including Méabh and Meadhbh. Mave and Meave are other anglicized variants.

The English pronunciation is MAYV, rhyming with wave or save. The ae represents the long a sound, and the final e is silent.

The full name is already brief, so it does not need a conventional nickname. Its initial m opens softly, while the final v gives the single syllable a definite ending.

Queen Medb in Irish legend

Medb, queen of Connacht, is central to the Irish epic The Cattle Raid of Cooley. She and her husband Ailill become involved in the conflict with Ulster and its hero Cúchulainn.

The story's opening compares the couple's wealth. Their possessions appear evenly matched until a remarkable bull in Ailill's herd disrupts the balance.

The dispute turns a domestic conversation into a much larger struggle over possession, status, and power. Medb's prominence within that story makes Maeve one of the most recognizable names from Irish heroic literature.

The queen belongs to legend rather than a securely documented royal biography. Her literary importance, however, has kept the older name visible across many centuries of retelling.

Maeve Binchy and Circle of Friends

Maeve Binchy's Circle of Friends was first published in 1990. It follows Benny Hogan and Eve Malone, close friends growing up in the village of Knockglen.

Benny is an only child longing for more independence from loving parents. Eve has been raised by nuns after rejection by her mother's wealthy family, giving the two friends different experiences of belonging.

At university in Dublin, their world expands to include Nan and Jack. Their friendships and romances bring the village and city into contact, with betrayal and hidden family histories testing the relationships.

Binchy's attention to ordinary social life gives Maeve a literary association very different from the epic queen's battles. Both connections are distinctly Irish, but they belong to different kinds of storytelling.

Another Binchy novel, Tara Road, follows Ria in Dublin and Marilyn in New England. A chance telephone call leads them to exchange houses for the summer, placing each woman among the other’s relationships and unresolved difficulties.

American popularity

Maeve's American use grew markedly during the twenty-first century. There were 295 girls with the name in 2000, ranking #778, and 546 in 2010, at #536.

Its strongest United States ranking was #73 in 2023, with 3,062 births. Its largest published annual count came in 2025, with 3,153 girls at #76.

The higher 2025 count and slightly lower rank show how a name can grow in numbers while moving within a changing national field.

How popular is Maeve?

In 2025, Maeve ranked #76 among girls in the United States, with 3,153 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1940; its largest annual count was 3,153 in 2025. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.