Maebh: Meaning, Pronunciation and Origin
Maebh is an Irish girl's name meaning “intoxicating.” Here’s how to say it, where it comes from, and names that go well with it.
Updated November 2026
- Irish spelling
- Méabh
- Meaning
- Intoxicating
- Gender
- Girl
- English forms
- Maeve
- Popularity in Ireland
- No. 38 for girls (2025)
How do you pronounce Maebh?
Maebh is pronounced MAYV. It has one syllable. Other spellings: Maeve.
What does Maebh mean?
Maebh, like Maeve, comes from the Irish Méabh (older Meadhbh), from the Old Irish Medb. The name is linked to a Celtic word for mead and read as “intoxicating” or “she who intoxicates”; another suggested meaning is “she who rules.”
In the Ulster Cycle, Medb is the warrior queen of Connacht, and some see her as a sovereignty goddess. In The Cattle Raid of Cooley (Táin Bó Cúailnge) she tells her husband Ailill she chose him because he was without meanness, jealousy or fear. Finding him richer only by the bull Finnbennach, she arranged to borrow Donn Cúailnge from Dáire mac Fiachna for a year. When Dáire backed out, she went to war with Ulster to take it, opposed by the hero Cú Chulainn.
Sources: Behind the Name, Wikipedia, CELT, University College Cork, Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923), en.wiktionary.org.
How popular is Maebh in Ireland?
In 2025, 116 baby girls in Ireland were named Méabh, which made it No. 38 that year. Another 16 were registered as Maebh or Meabh. That's up from No. 83 ten years earlier. The most babies got the name in 2023: 135. It first appears in the records in 1976, with 5 baby girls.
See the numbers by year
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 132 | No. 38 (Méabh) |
| 2024 | 115 | No. 50 (Méabh) |
| 2023 | 135 | No. 44 (Méabh) |
| 2022 | 94 | No. 65 (Méabh) |
| 2021 | 120 | No. 57 (Méabh) |
| 2020 | 82 | No. 77 (Méabh) |
| 2019 | 88 | No. 87 (Méabh) |
| 2018 | 87 | No. 103 (Méabh) |
| 2017 | 106 | No. 76 (Meabh) |
| 2016 | 96 | No. 82 (Meabh) |
| 2015 | 100 | No. 83 (Meabh) |
| 2014 | 92 | No. 89 (Meabh) |
| 2013 | 70 | No. 109 (Meabh) |
| 2012 | 92 | No. 88 (Meabh) |
| 2011 | 95 | No. 92 (Meabh) |
| 2010 | 77 | No. 107 (Meabh) |
| 2009 | 88 | No. 111 (Meabh) |
| 2008 | 93 | No. 88 (Meabh) |
| 2007 | 71 | No. 110 (Meabh) |
| 2006 | 63 | No. 113 (Meabh) |
| 2005 | 66 | No. 108 (Meabh) |
| 2004 | 54 | No. 122 (Meabh) |
| 2003 | 49 | No. 121 (Meabh) |
| 2002 | 28 | No. 208 (Meabh) |
| 2001 | 42 | No. 136 (Meabh) |
| 2000 | 31 | No. 159 (Meabh) |
| 1999 | 30 | No. 165 (Meabh) |
| 1998 | 25 | No. 179 (Meabh) |
| 1997 | 31 | No. 213 (Meabh) |
| 1996 | 41 | No. 160 (Meabh) |
| 1995 | 32 | No. 162 (Meabh) |
| 1994 | 20 | No. 240 (Meabh) |
| 1993 | 16 | No. 266 (Meabh) |
| 1992 | 17 | No. 282 (Meabh) |
| 1991 | 16 | No. 273 (Meabh) |
| 1990 | 25 | No. 201 (Meabh) |
| 1989 | 20 | No. 272 (Maebh) |
| 1988 | 14 | No. 304 (Meabh) |
| 1987 | 11 | No. 348 (Meabh) |
| 1986 | 12 | No. 356 (Maebh) |
| 1985 | 9 | No. 421 (Meabh) |
| 1984 | 14 | No. 320 (Meabh) |
| 1983 | 7 | No. 476 (Meabh) |
| 1982 | 7 | No. 467 (Meabh) |
| 1981 | 3 | No. 533 (Meabh) |
| 1980 | 7 | No. 483 (Maebh) |
| 1979 | 8 | No. 420 (Maebh) |
| 1976 | 5 | No. 392 (Meabh) |
Maebh in Ogham
Ogham is the oldest way of writing Irish. It was carved along the edges of standing stones, mostly between the 4th and 6th centuries, and read from the bottom up. In later tradition each letter was named after a tree or plant. Here’s Maebh, letter by letter.
- MMuin, vine
- AAilm, pine
- EEadhadh, aspen
- BBeith, birch
- HUath, hawthorn
Write any name in Ogham with our Ogham translator
Names that go with Maebh
Questions about Maebh
- How do you pronounce Maebh?
- Maebh is pronounced MAYV, in one syllable.
- What does Maebh mean?
- Maebh is an Irish girl's name meaning “intoxicating.”
- Is Maebh a girl's name or a boy's name?
- Maebh is a girl's name.
- How do you spell Maebh in Irish?
- In Irish it's spelled Méabh. That's the spelling most parents in Ireland now register, according to the Central Statistics Office.
- What is Maebh in English?
- The English form of Maebh is Maeve.
- How popular is Maebh in Ireland?
- In 2025, Méabh was No. 38 for girls in Ireland, with 116 babies, according to the Central Statistics Office. That's the highest it has ever ranked.
Sources: popularity from the Central Statistics Office, table VSA60 (CC BY 4.0). Meaning and origin from Behind the Name, Wikipedia, CELT, University College Cork, Woulfe, Irish Names and Surnames (1923) and en.wiktionary.org. How we research names: our sources. Spotted a mistake? support@babynamesofireland.com