Niamh (; from

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...

) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

feminine

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a ...

(meaning "bright" or "radiant"), anglicised as Neve, Nieve, Neave, Neavh or Neeve. In

Irish mythology Irish mythology is the body of myths native to the island of Ireland. It was originally passed down orally in the prehistoric era, being part of ancient Celtic religion. Many myths were later written down in the early medieval era by Ch ...

, Niamh is the daughter of the god of the sea,

Manannán mac Lir Manannán or Manann, also known as Manannán mac Lir ("son of the sea"), is a warrior and king of the Otherworld in Irish mythology who is associated with the sea and often interpreted as a sea god, usually as a member of the Tuatha Dé Dana ...

and one of the queens of

Tír na nÓg In Irish mythology Tír na nÓg (; "Land of the Young") or Tír na hÓige ("Land of Youth") is one of the names for the Celtic Otherworld, or perhaps for a part of it. Tír na nÓg is best known from the tale of Oisín and Niamh. Other Old Ir ...

, the land of eternal youth. She was the lover of the poet-hero

Oisín Oisín ( ), Osian, Ossian ( ), or anglicized as Osheen ( ) was regarded in legend as the greatest poet of Ireland, a warrior of the Fianna in the Ossianic or Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology. He is the demigod son of Fionn mac Cumhaill and of ...

. The first recorded use of Niamh (that spelling) as a given name in modern Ireland was in 1911, when two children were registered with the name and when a Niamh was listed in that year's census. ''Neve'' is also a Dutch and Flemish surname, but 71% of persons named Niamh live in Ireland.in Mondonomo, Names distinctive to Ireland (2022) accessed 5 October 2022

People with the given name

Niamh

*Niamh Algar
(born 1992), Irish actress *Niamh Blackshaw (born 1999), English actress *Niamh Briggs (born 1984), captain of Ireland's women's rugby team, 2015 Six Nations Champions *Niamh Bhreathnach (born 1945), Irish Minister for Education, 1993–97 *

Niamh Charles Niamh Louise Charles (born 21 June 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Women's Super League club Chelsea and the England women's national team. Early career Charles grew up on the Wirral in Merseyside an ...

(born 1999), English footballer * Niamh Cosgrave (born 1964), Irish politician *

Niamh Coyle Niamh Coyle is a camogie Camogie ( ; ga, camógaíocht ) is an Irish stick-and-ball team sport played by women. Camogie is played by 100,000 women in Ireland and worldwide, largely among Irish communities. A variant of the game of hurli ...

, camogie player *

Niamh Cusack Niamh Cusack ( ; born 20 October 1959) is an Irish actress. Born to a family with deep roots in the performing arts, Cusack has been involved as a performer since a young age. She has served with the UK's two leading theatre companies, the R ...

(born 1959), Irish actress, daughter of Cyril Cusack *

Niamh Fahey Niamh Fahey (born 13 October 1987) is an Irish footballer who plays as a defender or midfielder for Liverpool in the Women's Super League and the Republic of Ireland women's national football team. She has previously played for Chelsea. Before ...

(born 1987), Irish footballer * Niamh Houston (born 1991), Northern Irish musician *

Niamh Kavanagh Niamh Kavanagh ( ; born 13 February 1968) is an Irish singer who sang the winning entry at the Eurovision Song Contest 1993. The 1993 Eurovision Song Contest was held in Millstreet, County Cork, Republic of Ireland. She sang "In Your Eyes" ...

(born 1968), Irish singer and 1993 winner of the Eurovision Song Contest * Niamh Kelly (born 1995), Gaelic football player and Australian rules player *

Niamh Kilkenny Niamh Kilkenny is a camogie player, a member of the Galway senior panel that won the All Ireland Senior Camogie Championship in 2013 & 2019 and unsuccessfully contested the All Ireland finals of 2010 and 2011 against Wexford Wexford () ...

, Irish camogie player *

Niamh Kindlon Niamh Kindlon (born 22 July 1981) is an Irish sportswoman. She played ladies' Gaelic football with her local club, Magheracloone Mitchell's, and with Monaghan. Sporting career Kindlon won an All-Ireland with Monaghan in 1997. She won All-Sta ...

(born 1981), Irish Gaelic footballer *

Niamh McCarthy Niamh McCarthy (born 4 January 1994) is an Irish Paralympic discus thrower, competing in the F41 classification, a classification for persons of reduced stature. She is the 2018 European champion in the event at her classification and, as of A ...

(born 1994), Irish Paralympic discus thrower * Niamh McGrady (born 1983), Northern Irish actress *

Niamh McGrath Niamh McGrath is a camogie player, a member of the Galway senior panel that unsuccessfully contested the All Ireland finals of 2010 and 2011 against Wexford, Other awards Senior Gael Linn Cup The Gael Linn Cup is a bi-ennial tournament, repre ...

, camogie player * Niamh Mulcahy, camogie player * Niamh Ní Charra, Irish fiddler, concertina player and singer * Niamh Nic Daéid, Irish forensic scientist * Niamh O’Connor, writer, journalist and novelist *

Niamh Parsons Niamh Parsons (born in Dublin, Ireland) is a singer of contemporary and traditional Irish music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. I ...

, traditional Irish singer *

Niamh Perry Niamh Perry (born 10 June 1990) is a Northern Irish singer and actress who is best known for playing Fleck in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical '' Love Never Dies''. She came to prominence when she competed as one of the finalists in the BBC tal ...

(born 1990), Irish singer and actress *

Niamh Marie Redmond Niamh Marie Redmond is an Irish former model who found fame by winning Miss Ireland in 1996. Born to parents Ronald and Orla, Redmond grew up the only female child with three brothers in Drimnagh. At the age of nineteen she represented Dublin a ...

, Miss Ireland 1996 *

Niamh Reid Burke Niamh Reid Burke (born 6 August 1991) is an Irish association footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Women's National League (WNL) team Peamount United. She made five appearances for the senior Republic of Ireland national team, from her d ...

(born 1991), Irish footballer * Niamh Rippin (born 1994), British artistic gymnast * Niamh Sharkey Irish children's author * Niamh Smyth (born 1978), Irish politician * Niamh Uí Bhriain (born 1970), Irish activist * Niamh Walsh, Irish actress * Niamh Whelan (born 1990), Irish sprinter *

Niamh Wilson Niamh Wilson (; born March 9, 1997) is a Canadian film and television actress from Oakville, Ontario, known for her role as Corbett in ''Saw III'', reprised in ''Saw V''; the Canadian horror film '' The Marsh'' (2006); and the title role in the ...

(born 1997), Canadian actress *

Niamh Fisher-Black Niamh Fisher-Black (born 12 August 2000) is a New Zealand professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . She is the older sister of fellow racing cyclist Finn Fisher-Black, and was educated at Nelson College for Gir ...

(born 2000), New Zealand professional racing cyclist

Neve, Neave, Neavh or Nieve

* Nieve Jennings (born 1987), Scottish model * Neve McIntosh (born 1972), Scottish actress *Neve Gayford (born 2018), daughter of

Jacinda Ardern Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician who has been serving as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and leader of the Labour Party since 2017. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the member of ...

, Prime Minister of New Zealand *

Neave Brown Neave Brown (22 May 19299 January 2018) was an American-born British architect and artist. He specialized in modernist housing. Brown is the only architect to have had all his UK work listed:Elizabeth HopkirkNeave Brown becomes first architect ...

(born 1929), American-British architect *

Neve Campbell Neve Adrianne Campbell (born October 3, 1973; ) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her work in the drama and horror genres. She has appeared on ''People'' magazine's list of "50 Most Beautiful People" twice. Following a series of minor ...

(born 1973), Canadian actress (Neve was also the maiden name of her Dutch mother)

Fictional

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 ''Ballykissangel'' is a BBC television drama created by Kieran Prendiville and set in Ireland, produced in-house by BBC Northern Ireland. The original story revolved around a young English Roman Catholic priest as he became part of a rural com ...

'' * Niamh O’Connor (character), minor character in the soap opera ''Emmerdale'' *Niamh in the book '' Son of the Shadows'' by Juliet Marillier *Niamh Cranitch in the BBC legal drama, ''

Silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...

'' *Niamh Connolly in Channel 4 TV series ''

Father Ted ''Father Ted'' is a sitcom created by Irish writers Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews and produced by British production company Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4. It aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until 1 May 1998, including ...

'' *Niamh Brodie, deceased sister of Jackson Brodie in the book ''

Case Histories ''Case Histories'' (2004) is a detective novel by British author Kate Atkinson and is set in Cambridge, England. It introduces Jackson Brodie, a former police inspector and now private investigator. The plot revolves around three seemingly unc ...

'' by Kate Atkinson *Niamh Fairbrother in the book ''

The Casual Vacancy ''The Casual Vacancy'' is a 2012 novel written by J. K. Rowling. The book was published worldwide by the Little, Brown Book Group on 27 September 2012. A paperback edition was released on 23 July 2013. It was Rowling's first publication since ...

'' by JK Rowling *Ebba/Niamh Rose, known as Rose, main character in the book ''

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

'' by Edith Pattou *Niamh in the ABC2 show ''

Please Like Me ''Please Like Me'' is an Australian television comedy-drama series created by and starring Josh Thomas. Thomas also serves as a writer for most episodes. The series premiered on 28 February 2013 on ABC2 in Australia and is now available on Ne ...

'' *Niamh in the movie ''

Dark Touch ''Dark Touch'' is a 2013 Irish-French-Swedish supernatural horror film that was directed and written by Marina de Van. The film had its world premiere on 18 April 2013 at the Tribeca Film Festival and stars Missy Keating as the sole survivor of a b ...

'' *Niamh Reid in the TV3 series '' Red Rock'' *

Niamh Donoghue Dr. Niamh Donoghue is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera '' Doctors'', portrayed by Jessica Regan. Niamh was introduced as a general practitioner at the fictional Mill Health Centre. She first appeared on 1 May 2014 and made her last ...

in the BBC 1 series ''Doctors'' *Niamh in the book ''

The Kaiju Preservation Society ''The Kaiju Preservation Society'' is a science fiction novel written by American author John Scalzi. It was first published in hardcover and ebook by Tor Books, and audiobook by Audible Studios, on March 15, 2022; British hardcover and ebook edit ...

'' by John Scalzi

Places

*The Niamh Passes, a set of mountain passes located in the

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

Robert Jordan James Oliver Rigney Jr. (October 17, 1948 – September 16, 2007), better known by his pen name Robert Jordan," Robert Jordan" was the name of the protagonist in the 1940 Hemingway novel ''For Whom the Bell Tolls'', though this is not how the n ...

's epic fantasy series ''

The Wheel of Time ''The Wheel of Time'' is a series of high fantasy novels by American author Robert Jordan, with Brandon Sanderson as a co-author for the final three novels. Originally planned as a six-book series, ''The Wheel of Time'' spans 14 volumes, in ad ...

Other uses of the name

* LÉ Niamh (P52), a ship in the Irish Naval Service

References

{{given name, Niamh, nocat Irish-language feminine given names