Does anyone know the meaning of [name_f]Mireille[/name_f]? I’ve seen it referenced as being derived from a word meaning “to admire” (I think Nameberry says this), but I’ve also seen some sites that say it means “miracle” and a Hebrew name that means “God has spoken.”
Maybe all of those meanings/origins are correct?
I [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] [name_f]Mireille[/name_f].
From what I can gather from a fairly quick Google, there’s some debate as to whether [name_f]Mireille[/name_f] came from the surname Mireio, which as I understand it was related to the Provençal word mirar meaning “to admire” (most sites seem to at least mention this as a possible source for the name, if not its only source), or from the same root as [name_f]Miriam[/name_f] (Hebrew for “wished-for child”, which maybe could get you to “miracle”?) or [name_f]Miranda[/name_f] (Latin for “marvelous”) or [name_f]Mira[/name_f] (“wonderful; peace; prosperous”). I haven’t seen one say that it means “God has spoken”, though that’s not to say it isn’t out there somewhere.
All or some of the meanings could be correct, depending on where the name originated, and depending on where people got the information that led them to those definitions. “To admire” seems to be the most popular meaning.
[name_f]Mireille[/name_f] is said to be first used by poet [name_m]Frederic[/name_m] [name_f]Mistral[/name_f] for the main character of the poem “Mireio” – I believe [name_f]Mireille[/name_f] was an offshoot of Mireio, which was the actual name, said to be derived from mirar “to admire”. It’s a tragic love story. She dies at the end.
Peruse it here: http://www.archive.org/stream/mirio00unkngoog#page/n25/mode/1up
I love the name [name_f]Mireille[/name_f]! I think the literary connection is really neat as well.
Thank you! I’ve seen it as the [name_m]French[/name_m] word for “miracle”, but according to a [name_m]French[/name_m] dictionary, it isn’t, so… I guess it isn’t!
Any way you look at it, the meanings are all lovely, so I guess it shouldn’t matter too much! 
Wow, that is some poem! Thanks for sharing that - very interesting!
That is so interesting, thank you! My husband is not a fan of most things [name_m]French[/name_m] (who knows why!) so that is not working in my favor, unfortunately, but I am in love with this name so I hope I can convince him!