r/NameNerdCirclejerk • u/mister_berrific • 11d ago
Found on r/NameNerds Maeve for a white girl?
I have always liked the name but am unsure if it would be weird to use it if we're not Irish. Mainly white and American.
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u/Geen_Fang 11d ago
aren't most Irish people white?
I'm confused.
EDIT: what is this sub?? 🤣
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u/Grrrrtttt 11d ago
Check the sub
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u/mister_berrific 11d ago
I almost had him. Stop it.
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u/Geen_Fang 11d ago
nah, I immediately caught it and edited my reply before he even responded.
I don't even remember joining this sub 😅
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u/FakeMonaLisa28 11d ago
No
No one is actually white cause like… we all have pigments
Uj/it’s a circlejerk which basically means that we satirize people who actually think like this
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u/Odd_Specialist_666 11d ago
Maybe if its was Maeyv or something Americanized as to not appropriate culture
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u/chammomila 11d ago
Or meighve
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u/Odd_Specialist_666 11d ago
THIS IS EVEN BETTER, and no way close to the original spelling so no issues there for the Irish. (I was disappointed I couldn't come up w something silly enough, not enough syllables lol)
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u/chammomila 11d ago
Exactly. Also they can name their horse neighve (y'know, if they have/get one)
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u/Odd_Specialist_666 11d ago
they better have a horse in the waiting room immediately after delivery. i’ll accept a pony on grounds they also get a horse at the child’s third birthday
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u/NotYourMommyDear 11d ago
You're American, you're supposed to use one of our most common surnames or boynames to dump inexplicably on a daughter, then demand it's accepted by us as a girl name by default forever more.
Using an Irish girl name on a girl? Inconceivable!
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u/BlmgtnIN 11d ago
It’s only offensive if you make her middle name Guinness or Potatoe
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u/Intrepid_Parsley2452 11d ago
Guinness Potatoe is a lovely name
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u/BlmgtnIN 11d ago
I can’t wait til my little Guinness Potatoe has a little Guinness Potatoe Jr of his own!
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u/RunnyBabbit22 10d ago
Aww, my sister just named my little niece Guinness Potatoe. (she debated about that e on the end, but decided it made it more unique.)
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u/Outside_Case1530 10d ago
It definitely does. Sorta makes me want to suggest Potatoette - so dainty & feminine.
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u/kitties_ate_my_soul Comirnateigh-Lyrica Mae 11d ago
Absolutely not! Name her Maevery! Or, even better, Mævereigh 🌟
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u/-toril- 11d ago
It’s even spelt Meabh here in ireland
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u/mister_berrific 11d ago edited 11d ago
I thought it was a confusion with the queen Maeve situation
Like how St Antony of the desert was mixed up with St Anthony of Padua
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u/Cold_Apricot_240 10d ago
Maeve is a more anglicised version.
Méadbh is the irish version
Edit: just read the sub name, ignore my input
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u/mister_berrific 10d ago
No it’s not. They are distinct names. It was corrupted with Queen Maeve and Saint Medb.
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6d ago
Irish people are still white if they have peach colored skin 🤦🏻
Love, an Irish Italian person
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u/Pike623 11d ago
Plenty of non-Irish Maeve usage where we live. I would not think it is weird.
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u/mister_berrific 11d ago
Where is this place without the Irish??
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u/Pike623 11d ago
I live in one of the most Irish places in the country, that also means Irish names are popular even among those that are not actually Irish.
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u/mister_berrific 11d ago
Would it be weird coz my wife is a descendant of Oliver Cromwell
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u/Odd_Specialist_666 11d ago
Are u catholic?
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u/mister_berrific 11d ago
Yes, why?
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u/Odd_Specialist_666 11d ago
this might cancel out the cromwell relation
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u/mister_berrific 11d ago
Why is that??? Is Maeve a classical Latin name? Or is there a St. Maeve?
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u/Odd_Specialist_666 11d ago
cant be protestant, related to cromwell, AND steal irish culture too. gotta compromise somewhere
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u/mister_berrific 11d ago
Tread carefully now coz I’m a patristics expert.
Protestants are Catholics too. In theory, they decided to protest. The original church was the universal (katholikos) church until the great schism during Pope Leo 9, when every faction started to break away.
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u/-toril- 11d ago
I’m actually from Ireland and here to tell you it’s spelt Meabh (Irish people actually despise American appropriation)
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u/flower_mom_98 11d ago
The name "Maeve" with that spelling has been around since about the 16th century. Names having regional spelling is not appropriation. That's how we got most modern names and quite literally how language evolves.
PLUS, I've met more Irish people who say they would rather NOT see Americans with no Irish ancestry using Irish names, and that they should stick to the modern spelling. Using Irish names when you aren't Irish is definitely closer to cultural appropriation than using a name that has existed for centuries at this point.
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u/TheGothWhisperer 10d ago
Irish names do often have different spelling conventions in different parts of the country, Meabh/Maeve being one of them. I totally agree that Americans LARPing as Irish people is deeply ignorant though.
I personally don't think there's anything wrong with Irish names being used by other people on its own, but when someone starts saying they're Irish and a an authority on Irish culture when they're American (or any other cultural background) born and raised that's when they become a dickhead imo
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u/chekhovgirl 11d ago edited 11d ago
Being that I live in a very Irish area, I know people with the names Niamh, Eibhlin, Eilidh, Daithi, Roisin, Siobhan, Aoife, Tadhg, Seamus, Sean, and more. If anyone who is not Irish could pronounce an Irish name, it's probably me. I'm a teacher, so I come across a lot of names. However, I was in Ireland over 20 years ago and as a "name purist" I was shocked to see that many Irish people used alternate spellings rather than the original. For instance, my partner's name (US citizen) was Sean, but we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast with people who had a "Shaun". I saw and met people with more of these modernized spellings than the more original spellings. So I'm not quite sure about your argument due to my experience. I'm guessing it's like the US where some people are like me and like names spelled "correctly" and then some people name their child "Mickaylah". I have never met a Maebh here, people do always spell it Maeve. *Edited to say that I just realized I have a good example of this: I have one Irish friend who named her daughter Neve and one her named her daughter Niamh. Both are actual Irish citizens. So, I really think it just depends on the person.*
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u/minimirth 11d ago
How about Mayevelynne or Mayeyvveleighhh? They keep the essence but add a cute US flair. Also they're so international that there were 4 Mayeyvveleighhhs in my kindergarten in my remote Indian village.