[name]Hi[/name] berries,
So tonight I went to dinner with my good friend who is also pregnant and names naturally came up. I mentioned that we were considering the name [name]Maeve[/name], and she had never heard of it! She asked me where I heard it and how I was spelling it. I was shocked. I thought it was a fairly recognizable name that people would have at least heard of. What do you think? Obviously ‘namenerds’ have heard of it, but what about non ‘namenerds’? My friend is a very smart, well educated and cultured woman with good taste in names(she’s deciding between [name]Caroline[/name] and [name]Eleanor[/name]) so if she didn’t recognize it, is there any hope?
Thanks!
PS What do you think of [name]Maeve[/name] with big brother [name]Jude[/name]?
I think [name]Maeve[/name] is an easily recognizable and (becoming) common name… she jus thasnt come across it yet. maeve and jude make a great sib combo!
I think most people are going to be more likely to recognize [name]Mae[/name] than [name]Maeve[/name], but that does NOT mean that it’s totally unrecognizable.
As for [name]Maeve[/name] and [name]Jude[/name] together, I’ll be honest: I don’t [name]LOVE[/name] it because when I say them together it sounds like [name]May[/name] and [name]June[/name]. [name]Both[/name] names are lovely, by when you put them together, I feel like you lose their charm (not that I don’t appreciate [name]May[/name] and [name]June[/name], because I do). Maybe as a middle name like [name]Violet[/name] [name]Maeve[/name]?
I love [name]Maeve[/name]. It has such a cool meaning. Outside of the namenerd community, I think it is relatively uncommon. It sounds great with [name]Jude[/name].
[name]Love[/name], love, love [name]Maeve[/name] and [name]Jude[/name]! While [name]Maeve[/name] may be new to some people, it contains the desirable “ave” sound (see [name]Ava[/name], [name]Eva[/name], [name]Evelyn[/name]…) which is so popular.
I would take it as great news that she hadn’t heard of it! While I think many of us name-addicts and/or Irish folk know the name, I take your friend’s surprise as a good sign that it isn’t being overused. Looks like you have the perfect combination of classic world meets new generation! Plus, [name]Jude[/name] and [name]Maeve[/name] work beautifully together! Congrats!
[name]Maeve[/name] is a lovely name and definitely not too unusual or unheard of. I am surprised your friend had never heard of it. I think it goes great with [name]Jude[/name].
I love [name]Maeve[/name]! One of my favorites that I keep forgetting about and rediscovering. It’s surprising to me that she had no idea… I’m pretty sure it’s at least in the top 500 of the SSA list, so not too uncommon. I’ve only known one in real life, but I feel like it’s a pretty familiar name to most people.
Thanks everyone. Your responses have been really reassuring and [name]Maeve[/name] is still at the top of our list. It seems to be getting really positive reviews on here and I’m glad you all seem to like it with [name]Jude[/name]. I think they have a similar feel and I’m glad most of you seem to agree.”
In most cases, people not having heard of the name is probably a pro. But we have a long last name that is very hard to spell, so I’d rather not burden my child with a first name they have to explain too.
I just created an account here so I can respond to this.
I named my daughter [name]Maeve[/name] [name]Elizabeth[/name] three months ago in [name]March[/name]. Obviously, I love the name. I’m from the Chicago area, but just moved to [name]Washington[/name] state from [name]Colorado[/name] in [name]January[/name]. I can’t think of any friends or family in Chicago that didn’t know the name [name]Maeve[/name] (and I received tons of compliments on it from them as well.) However, as far as [name]Colorado[/name]/[name]Washington[/name] - the majority of people I tell it to here do NOT know the name and some kind of look at me funny when I say it; I’ve even had a few ask me if I made it up… seriously. Then they think it’s spelled [name]Mave[/name]. SOMETIMES if I reference the author [name]Maeve[/name] Binchy they’ll know it. So, I guess depending on where you live has a lot to do with people knowing the name or not. Those who do know the name seem to really like it, and I tend to believe them I also think it’s pretty easy to remember if you didn’t know it at first - nobody has had to ask me repeatedly what it was. My son is [name]Grant[/name] ([name]William[/name] [name]Grant[/name], goes by his middle name) - so [name]Grant[/name] and [name]Maeve[/name]. [name]Love[/name] [name]Jude[/name] and [name]Maeve[/name] too.
I also think it’s pretty easy to remember if you didn’t know it at first - nobody has had to ask me repeatedly what it was. My son is [name]Grant[/name] ([name]William[/name] [name]Grant[/name], goes by his middle name) - so [name]Grant[/name] and [name]Maeve[/name]. [name]Love[/name] [name]Jude[/name] and [name]Maeve[/name] too.