Maeve

What Maeve means

Means “intoxicating”

Anglicized form of the Irish Méabh, from Middle Irish Medb (literally “intoxicating”) and Meadhbh in Medieval irish.

Source: Wiktionary, “Maeve” (revision 92494141), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Maeve?

US: Rising: up from #451 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #620 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 3,153 girls got the name (#76 that year). First in the US records in 1940.

How common

• About 1 in 510 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 190 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 138 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in VT (15.4 per 1,000 girls), NH (14.75 per 1,000 girls), RI (11.42 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Maeve is #76 in the US and #26 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Maeve were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Mayve56 US · 3 E&W
• Maive12 US · 5 E&W
• Mave7 US · 3 E&W
• Maev5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Maeve

Girls

• Rory#230“red-haired king”^*
• Guinevere#898Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #898 vs #2,788 in 2025
• Ellis#682“benevolent, kind”^*
• Kenna#759“descendant of Cionaodh”^*
• Gwendolyn#360Variant of Gwendolen, meaning “white, fair, blessed + ring, bow…^*
• Rowan#249“little red one”^*

For a brother

• Callum#118Variant of Calum, meaning “dove”^*
• Rowan#59“little red one”^*
• Calum#799“dove”^*
• Kian#400Editor’s note Up from #489 in 2015 to #400 in 2025 in the US
• Kieran#389Editor’s note Up from #512 in 2015 to #389 in 2025 in the US
• Rhys#410Welsh, from Old Welsh Ris, meaning “ardor, fiery warrior”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Irish & Celtic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Maeve’s. Rank is US 2025.