Niamh
| Niamh | |
|---|---|
| Gender | feminine |
| Language(s) | Irish |
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Ireland |
| Meaning | bright, radiant |
| Region of origin | Ireland |
 |
Look up Niamh in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Niamh (Irish pronunciation: [ˈniːəv], from Old Irish Niaṁ) is an Irish feminine given name (meaning "bright" or "radiant"),[1] anglicised as Neve or Neave /ˈniːv/.[2]
In Irish mythology, Niamh is the daughter of the god of the sea, Manannán mac Lir and one of the queens of Tír na nÓg, the land of eternal youth. She was the lover of the poet-hero Oisín.
Neave (variants Neeve, Neve, Neaf, Niave, Neaves, Neeves, Niaves) is an unrelated English surname cognate to the word nephew. The form Neve is also used as a Dutch and Flemish surname. The given name of Canadian actress Neve Campbell is derived from the Dutch surname, her mother's maiden name.
The name is not to be confused with the now-uncommon masculine given name Naomh, Naoimh, meaning "blessed" or "saint" (also rarely used as a given name).
People with the given name
Niamh
- Niamh Briggs, Captain of Ireland's women's rugby team, 2015 Six Nations Champions
- Niamh Bhreathnach (born 1945), Irish Minister for Education from 1993 until 1997
- Niamh Cosgrave (born 1964), Irish politician
- Niamh Coyle, camogie player
- Niamh Cusack (born 1959), Irish actress and daughter of the late actor Cyril Cusack
- Niamh Fahey (born 1987), Irish female international football defender
- Niamh Kavanagh (born 1968), Irish singer and 1993 winner of the Eurovision Song Contest
- Niamh McGrady, Northern Irish actress
- Niamh Mulcahy, camogie player
- Niamh O’Connor, writer, journalist and novelist
- Niamh Parsons, traditional Irish singer
- Niamh Perry (born 1990), Irish singer and actress
- Niamh Marie Redmond, Miss Ireland 1996
- Niamh Wilson, (born 1997) Canadian actress
Neve or Nieve
- Nieve Jennings (born 1987), Scottish model
- Neve McIntosh (born 1972), Scottish actress
Fictional characters
- Niamh Cassidy in the soap opera Fair City
- Niamh, wife of Slaine Mac Roth in the 2000 AD comic series Sláine
- Niamh Quigley in the BBC Television programme Ballykissangel
- Niamh O’Connor (character), minor character in the soap opera Emmerdale
- Niamh, character in the book Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier
- Niamh Cranitch, character in the BBC legal drama, Silk
- Niamh Connolly, character in Channel 4 TV series Father Ted
- Niamh Brodie, deceased sister of character Jackson Brodie in the book Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
- Niamh Fairbrother, character in the book The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling
- Ebba/Niamh Rose, known as Rose, main character in the book East by Edith Pattou
- Niamh, character in the ABC2 show Please Like Me
- Niamh, character in the movie Dark Touch
- Niamh Reid, character in the TV3 series Red Rock
Other uses of the name
- LÉ Niamh (P52), a ship in the Irish Naval Service
See also
- List of Irish-language given names
- Nia (given name)
- All pages beginning with "Niamh"
- All pages beginning with "Neve"
- All pages beginning with "Nieve"
References
- ↑ niamh in Ó Dónaill, Foclóir Gaeilge–Béarla (1977).
- ↑ Niamh (behindthename.com), Neave (babynamesofireland.com), MFnames.com - Origin and Meaning of Neve (mfnames.com)