A LITTLE UNCOMMON. ENTIRELY YOURS.
Meaning, origin and pronunciation, with published usage by place and year.
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Brightness, lustre or sheen (Irish word background).
The exact personal-name entry explicitly derives Niamh from the Irish noun niamh, glossed brightness, lustre or sheen. This refines the licensed bright gloss into documented word background; it does not describe or predict a child’s appearance or personality.
Irish, inherited through Middle Irish and Old Irish.
The Irish female given-name entry traces the name through Middle Irish níam and Old Irish ném. This identifies its linguistic history, not a bearer’s nationality or ancestry. Existing regional Irish pronunciations remain separate from English pronunciation.
Neeve (one recorded Australian English guide)
One bearer’s approximate first-name reading in the club’s official profile. The written aid is retained as printed; it does not establish every family or regional reading.
Recorded English reading, as published. Accents and preferred pronunciations can differ.
Counts apply only to the exact spelling, place, year and recorded usage shown. Places are separate; these figures are never added into a worldwide total. Missing or suppressed records never mean zero.
| Place | Year | Recorded usage | Published births | Rank | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 2025 | Girls | 14 · preliminary | 1668 | 2025 figures are preliminary. Quebec counts below five are randomly imputed by the publisher before national aggregation. Accents are removed in the source; this profile was matched only where the catalog spelling was unambiguous. Unpublished values are unknown, not zero. Rank basis: source published. |
| France | 2023 | Girls | 5 (rounded to 5) | 6831 | Counts are rounded to the nearest multiple of five. Ranks use unrounded publisher counts with randomly ordered ties; equally rounded counts can have different ranks. National coverage excludes Mayotte before 2012. Missing years are unavailable, not zero. Automated direction labels are withheld for this rounded-count series. Rank basis: source published. |
| England & Wales | 2025 | Girls | 228 | 208 | Published ranks differ from ranks calculated over visible rows. Counts retained; automated trend labels withheld. Rank basis: source published. |
| Northern Ireland | 2025 | Girls | 27 | 77 | Two rank discrepancies and alternate-view differences retained. Automated trend labels withheld. Rank basis: source published. |
| Scotland | 2025 | Girls | 56 | 74 | Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: source published. |
| Ireland | 2025 | Girls | 54 | 90 | Names below three occurrences are unpublished. Accent recording changed in 2018; comparisons across that boundary may not describe the same spelling coverage. Counts refer to registrations in the year. Missing years are unavailable, not zero. Rank basis: source published. |
| United States | 2025 | Girls | 43 | 3517 | Source-reported counts; unpublished names are not zero. Rank basis: calculated from published counts. |
Canada, Ireland and France coverage includes confidently matched existing profiles only; unmatched spellings are awaiting review. French counts are rounded to five.
Open an entry for its source, credit, licence and full qualifications. Different name traditions remain separate.
Checked against cited source
Exact Irish section documents a feminine given name; existing licensed Gaelic origin is retained without silent relabelling. Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted and condensed by Rare Baby Names; CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). No source audio reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The exact personal-name entry explicitly derives Niamh from the Irish noun niamh, glossed brightness, lustre or sheen. This refines the licensed bright gloss into documented word background; it does not describe or predict a child’s appearance or personality. Credit: Wiktionary contributors. CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Rare Baby Names condensed the exact Irish given-name entry and its explicit word-history connection; no source audio reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
Directly documented regional Irish pronunciation of the given name. The Munster reading remains separate; preferred readings may vary. Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted and condensed by Rare Baby Names; CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). No source audio reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
Directly documented regional Irish pronunciation of the given name; not an English pronunciation guide. Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted and condensed by Rare Baby Names; CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). No source audio reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The Irish female given-name entry traces the name through Middle Irish níam and Old Irish ném. This identifies its linguistic history, not a bearer’s nationality or ancestry. Existing regional Irish pronunciations remain separate from English pronunciation. Credit: Wiktionary contributors. CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Rare Baby Names condensed the exact Irish given-name entry and its explicit word-history connection; no source audio reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
One bearer’s approximate first-name reading in the club’s official profile. The written aid is retained as printed; it does not establish every family or regional reading. Credit: Gold Coast SUNS, official 2025 AFLW Media Guide, exact Niamh first-name profile, PDF page 16 / printed page 30. Source: https://resources.goldcoastfc.com.au/aflc-gcfc/document/2025/08/12/82efcdac-ff7b-4fb5-9e7c-30af85156571/2025-AFLW-Media-Guide.pdf#page=16. License: original brief factual summary; source rights retained. Adaptation: Rare Baby Names retained only the short factual first-name aid or nickname and its scope. No IPA or stress invented; no roster, biography, image or audio republished; no open license claimed.
Original brief factual summary; source rights retained
Checked against cited source
The source lists English Neve as a descendant of Irish Niamh. This is a language-transmission relationship, not a claim that every bearer or unrelated Neve history follows that route. Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted and condensed by Rare Baby Names; CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). No source audio reused.
Credit: Wiktionary contributors. Adapted by Rare Baby Names: wording shortened and name contexts separated. Recorded pronunciations are shown as published.
This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Checked against cited source
The first-name aid Neeve represents 1 syllable in this reading. It is not a rule for every bearer. Credit: Gold Coast SUNS, official 2025 AFLW Media Guide, exact Niamh first-name profile, PDF page 16 / printed page 30. Source: https://resources.goldcoastfc.com.au/aflc-gcfc/document/2025/08/12/82efcdac-ff7b-4fb5-9e7c-30af85156571/2025-AFLW-Media-Guide.pdf#page=16. License: original brief factual summary; source rights retained. Adaptation: Rare Baby Names retained only the short factual first-name aid or nickname and its scope. No IPA or stress invented; no roster, biography, image or audio republished; no open license claimed.
Original brief factual summary; source rights retained
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Attribution: Source: NISRA : Website: www.nisra.gov.uk
License: Open Government Licence v3.0
Attribution: (C) Crown copyright. Data supplied by National Records of Scotland.
License: Open Government Licence v3.0
Attribution: Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence
License: Open Government Licence v3.0
Attribution: U.S. Social Security Administration
Credit: Statistics Canada, Table 17-10-0147-01, 1991–2025, released 23 September 2026.
License: Statistics Canada Open Licence
Adaptation: Adapted from Statistics Canada, First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators, Table 17-10-0147-01, reference years 1991–2025. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
Credit: Central Statistics Office, Ireland, VSA50 and VSA60, updated 27 February 2026.
License: CC BY 4.0
Adaptation: Adapted by Rare Baby Names: joined the published count and rank indicators and matched unambiguous existing spellings. Source values retained.
Credit: Source : Insee, Fichier des prénoms, updated 16 July 2026.
License: Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab)
Adaptation: Adapted by Rare Baby Names: column names and sex codes mapped and unique case-only spellings matched to existing profiles. Published rounded counts and ranks retained.
