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Do you know if these people are pronouncing the name in three syllables (mah-eh-vuh) as it was originally in Tahiti and later in France, or are they pronouncing it in two syllables to rhyme with Ava? I suppose people in English speaking countries could independently invent this spelling as a two-syllable form based on Maeve without even realizing it was also the Tahitian/French name.

I like Maeve better and it’s not too popular here. That’s a cool story. I’m glad Gwen got to meet her. She’s probably thought about what having a little girl in the family would be like. My grandpa is 86 and in poor health and in May got his first male descendent through my cousin. All his brothers that lived to adulthood had at least one son and most had grandsons too. Not that he isn’t happy with all his girls and is not shy to girl talk at all. It had been a joke for years that we wouldn’t know what to do with a boy. It’s so cute seeing them together. I’d post a picture if I remembered how (and if anybody cared).

Cute story. I don't care for the name though. Meave, Neva or Eva would have been superior imo. Grandma Gwen.. what a sweet thought. Gwen truly is lovely across a lifetime.

It's ok, I pronounce 2 syllables, I prefer Maeve

Never heard of the name.

What is happening to make Maeve suddenly skyrocket in the UK? I think of it as a very Irish name, and although a lot of UK citizens are of Irish origin, a good amount aren't and I just find an English person naming their kid Maeve a bit...hmm...well... there's stuff to unpack there, possibly, maybe, or maybe not, I don't know.

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It's just such a weird name to suddenly take off in popularity.

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Maeva is ok. I do not consider it a version of Maeve though, personally, and I'd pronounce it ma-e-va and Maeve is mayv. They might look similar, but I'd consider them distinct names.

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I like Gwen though! Always thought it was lively.

This message was edited 1/22/2022, 1:34 PM

Maeva's lovely! I seem to forget about it a lot, which is a shame. I struggle to pronounce it with three syllables, though (as the BtN entry indicates is appropriate).

I don't like it. I prefer Eva

This message was edited 1/22/2022, 6:12 AM

Maeve is nice, but Maeva is weird. May + va? Perhaps, but the spelling gives a Me + Eva vibe which is disconcerting. Meeting in the jungle: "Me Eva! You Tarzan?"

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I can see that the first girl for three-quarters of a century would be cause for celebration; perhaps also cause for naming the lassie Eve or some variant. (My grandmother told me that they'd named my aunt Eva "because she was our first child"; I said "So if she'd been a boy, would you have named him Adam?" And she looked shocked and startled!) But the spelling is already going to be confusing because there is an Irish variant with the vowels switched: Meave. So first you disentangle that issue, then you wonder if Maeva has two syllables or three, and then ... I dunno, you give up and have a Guinness, I suppose!