Niamh
| Pronunciation | /ˈniːv/ or Irish: [ˈniː.əv] |
|---|---|
| Gender | feminine |
| Language(s) | Irish |
| Origin | |
| Word/name | Ireland |
| Meaning | brightness and beauty |
| Region of origin | Ireland |
Niamh (Irish pronunciation: [ˈniːəv], with two syllables) is an Irish language feminine given name (meaning 'bright' or 'radiant').[1][2] Anglicised forms of the name are Niav, Neve, Neave, Neeve and Nieve.[3] The Old Irish spelling is Niaṁ.
In Irish mythology, Niamh was a goddess, the daughter of the god of the sea and one of the queens of Tír na nÓg, the land of eternal youth. She was the lover of the poet-hero Oisín.
The name is distinguished from the rather similarly pronounced but now uncommon masculine name name Naomh or Naoimh (meaning 'saint', 'blessed', 'holy', or 'sacred' in Irish and Scottish Gaelic); it is more often encountered as a title than a given name, e.g. Naomh Padraig 'Saint Patrick', and is common in the Irish-language names of many Gaelic Athletic Association clubs named after saints.
People named 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 Parsons, traditional Irish singer
- Niamh Perry (born 1990), Irish singer and actress
- Niamh Marie Redmond, Miss Ireland 1996
- Niamh Wilson, (born 1997) Canadian actress
Women named Neve or Nieve
- Nieve Jennings (born 1987), Scottish model
- Neve McIntosh (born 1972), Scottish actress
- Canadian actress Neve Campbell's name /ˈnɛv/ came from her mother's maiden name, and is of Dutch and Sephardic Jewish origin; the similarity of her name to Niamh is coincidental
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, 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
- All pages with titles beginning with Niamh
- All pages with titles beginning with Neve
- All pages with titles beginning with Nieve
- All pages with titles beginning with Naomh
References
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