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Neve Campbell does pronounce Nev but I do like Neve as a phonetic spelling for the Irish name Niamh. I love it and it is currently one of my favorites - pronounced Neev not Nev.

I like Neve a lot. I pronounce it Nev or Neev, preferably Nev.

I like Neve (prn NEEV, Anglicised form of Niamh). I actually prefer that spelling to the original Irish one because although I know how Niamh is pronounced, I still hear it as nie-AMH in my head!

Love the sound of Niamh, but I don't know if I would actually use it

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:)

I would be tempted to first pronounce it as NE-vay, simply because I come from a town where a glacier is the main tourist attraction and had glacier guides for parents, so heard about neves all the time (the bit where snow collects up top). Then just NEV, because of Neve Campbell. Now that I know it's a form of Niamh, I'd say NEEV as well, but if I wanted that pronunciation I'd just use Niamh.

Neve Campbell pronounces her name "Nev" because it is not really the same name as the Neve referenced on this site. This site gives Neve as an alternative spelling of the Irish name Niamh, but in Ms. Campbell's case Neve is her mother's maiden name. Her mother is of Dutch ancestry, and so Neve in this case is probably the Flemish surname meaning "nephew". (See Hanks & Hodges' A Dictionary of Surnames).

I pronounce it NEEV. I like it, with a longer middle name. I also like Nee-vah, Neva, but I would be afraid it would be mispronounced (Nev-ah).

I'd pronounce it 'neeve' since Niamh is so popular these days. Miss Scotland 2007 is called Nieve (also 'neeve') which I think it pretty. It's not the Spanish name, it's meant to be Niamh in a more user-friendly spelling.

I would say neev.

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It's ok, but Niamh is so trendy around here. I prefer the simpler Eve.

I don't really like that name, but I'd pronounce it NEEV. I like Niamh better though because it's not as harsh looking. But I suppose Neve is much more practical, especially in America where most people have probably never seen it spelled the Irish way and wouldn't be able to pronounce it.

This message was edited 12/10/2007, 9:01 AM

Well, if I wasn't already familiar with the pronunciation, I would say neh-veh. But I know that it's really prn. NEEV. I think it's okay, not something I'd use. It seems a little incomplete, I like very few one-syllabel names.

I would pronounce it the same as you. In the case of Neve Campbell, Neve is her mothers maiden name, so the pronounciation difference is likely from that. The name is okay, I think I prefer the Niamh spelling.

NEEV is how I say it. My mother looks after a little Neve (pronounced NEEV) whose mother wanted Niamh but thought it would be mispronounced in England. Had she had namenerd tendences like us (therefore checking on popularity) she would have found Niamh is quite well used (in top 100) here.

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But that's going off topic slightly. Neve = NEEV to me, not NEV, being an anglicised Niamh. I like it.

I would personally prounce it Nee-v like you. Nev sounds like a male name (Nevil)

This message was edited 12/10/2007, 8:03 AM

Since it means "snow" in Italian and it's used as a name, albeit not a common one at all, I'd be inclined to pronounce it Neh-veh.
But I gather in this case it has a totally different Celtic origin, and some native English speaker might be more knowledgeable about the correct pronounciation in that case.