Fun Facts About the Name Maeve
- A newer favorite: Maeve first entered the U.S. top 100 in 2023 and stayed there through 2025 - a run of 3 consecutive years.
- More than 29 thousand babies named Maeve: U.S. records list 29,595 babies given the name Maeve from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Maeve Mean?
Maeve is the anglicized form of the Irish name Méabh, written Medb in Old Irish. Its established meaning is "intoxicating" or "she who intoxicates," from Old Irish medb, an adjective with that sense. The word belongs with the Celtic terms for mead, the fermented honey drink - compare Welsh medd (mead) and meddw (drunk) - so the name's basic sense is tied to mead and to intoxication.
The exact Proto-Celtic form behind medb is reconstructed rather than directly recorded, so the deeper pre-Irish history of the word is not documented with full certainty, but the connection to the mead root is the standard explanation. Medieval Irish writers also offered story-based explanations of the name, tying it to the legendary queen Medb and her dealings with mead; those are later interpretations of the name rather than its linguistic origin, and they should not be confused with the etymology itself.
Maeve Name History & Origins
The earliest recorded form is Old Irish Medb, the name of the queen of Connacht in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology. Medb is the driving figure of Táin Bó Cúailnge ("The Cattle Raid of Cooley"), where her wish to match the wealth of her husband Ailill sets the conflict with the hero Cú Chulainn in motion. She also appears in other Ulster Cycle tales, including Táin Bó Fraích and Fled Bricrenn, usually alongside Ailill.
From Old Irish Medb the name passed into Middle Irish and then into modern Irish, where it is written Méabh and also Meadhbh or Maebh. In modern Irish spelling the letters bh stand for a "v" sound, and the anglicized spelling Maeve renders that sound in English letters. Besides its mythic use, the name appears as a personal name in Irish records.
English-language readers met the name largely through 19th- and early 20th-century retellings of Irish myth: W. B. Yeats used the queen in poems such as "The Old Age of Queen Maeve" (1903), and Lady Gregory's Cuchulain of Muirthemne (1902) retold the Ulster Cycle for an English readership. In the 20th and 21st centuries the anglicized form Maeve spread beyond Ireland into the wider English-speaking world, and it has been used for characters in modern fiction and television. Other English spellings include Maev and Meave.
How Popular is the Name Maeve?
Maeve recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2025. Maeve entered the top 100 U.S. girl names in 2023.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #76 | 3,153 | 0.1962% |
| 2024 | #75 | 3,098 | 0.1920% |
| 2023 | #73 | 3,057 | 0.1907% |
| 2022 | #103 | 2,676 | 0.1633% |
| 2021 | #124 | 2,253 | 0.1374% |
| 2020 | #173 | 1,644 | 0.1018% |
| 2019 | #244 | 1,303 | 0.0777% |
| 2018 | #334 | 973 | 0.0572% |
| 2017 | #360 | 867 | 0.0502% |
| 2016 | #406 | 820 | 0.0463% |
| 2015 | #452 | 703 | 0.0394% |
| 2014 | #487 | 648 | 0.0363% |
| 2013 | #485 | 625 | 0.0356% |
| 2012 | #532 | 571 | 0.0324% |
| 2011 | #591 | 489 | 0.0278% |
| 2010 | #536 | 546 | 0.0307% |
| 2009 | #593 | 508 | 0.0277% |
| 2008 | #636 | 486 | 0.0257% |
| 2007 | #622 | 480 | 0.0250% |
| 2006 | #647 | 447 | 0.0235% |
| 2005 | #696 | 398 | 0.0215% |
| 2004 | #710 | 378 | 0.0206% |
| 2003 | #644 | 413 | 0.0226% |
| 2002 | #710 | 350 | 0.0195% |
| 2001 | #757 | 317 | 0.0176% |
| 2000 | #778 | 295 | 0.0162% |
| 1999 | #669 | 343 | 0.0193% |
| 1998 | #881 | 240 | 0.0136% |
| 1997 | #955 | 207 | 0.0119% |
| 1996 | #1,241 | 141 | 0.0080% |
| 1995 | #1,270 | 133 | 0.0076% |
| 1994 | #1,529 | 102 | 0.0057% |
| 1993 | #1,674 | 90 | 0.0050% |
| 1992 | #1,822 | 79 | 0.0043% |
| 1991 | #2,046 | 67 | 0.0036% |
| 1990 | #2,505 | 48 | 0.0025% |
| 1989 | #2,292 | 52 | 0.0028% |
| 1988 | #2,083 | 56 | 0.0031% |
| 1987 | #2,511 | 41 | 0.0024% |
| 1986 | #2,288 | 45 | 0.0026% |
| 1985 | #2,905 | 32 | 0.0019% |
| 1984 | #2,968 | 30 | 0.0018% |
| 1983 | #3,499 | 23 | 0.0014% |
| 1982 | #4,113 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 1981 | #3,807 | 21 | 0.0013% |
| 1980 | #5,422 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 1979 | #5,284 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 1978 | #5,085 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 1977 | #5,395 | 12 | 0.0008% |
| 1976 | #6,370 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 1975 | #7,631 | 7 | 0.0005% |
| 1974 | #6,599 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1973 | #6,420 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1972 | #5,741 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 1971 | #5,342 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1969 | #4,327 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1968 | #6,700 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1967 | #6,488 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1966 | #5,588 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1965 | #4,101 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1964 | #4,013 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1963 | #3,273 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 1962 | #7,166 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1961 | #3,915 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1960 | #3,294 | 15 | 0.0007% |
| 1959 | #3,946 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1958 | #3,852 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1957 | #6,674 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1956 | #6,522 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1955 | #5,014 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1954 | #3,614 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1953 | #4,111 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1952 | #4,341 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1951 | #4,649 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1949 | #4,103 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1947 | #4,601 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1945 | #4,337 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1944 | #4,994 | 5 | 0.0004% |
| 1943 | #4,495 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1941 | #2,967 | 10 | 0.0008% |
| 1940 | #3,399 | 8 | 0.0007% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
Explore Name Lists Featuring Maeve
Carl appears in several baby name collections based on U.S. popularity records, naming trends, and name characteristics. Explore these lists to discover other names with similar histories, styles, or features.
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How the Name Maeve Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You have psychic power. You can carry on for others with joy. You have a receptive nature and may bear burdens for others. You are pragmatic, thorough, strong-willed, practical and stubborn at times. You are hard working, often martyr to duty. You like home and security above all. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.
✦ Maeve's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Maeve's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.