Máire (Irish: [ˈmˠaːɾʲə]) is a feminine given name. It is the Irish language form of Maria,[1] which was in turn a Latin[2] form of the Greek names Μαριαμ (Mariam), and Μαρια (Maria), found in the New Testament.[citation needed] Both New Testament names were forms of the Hebrew name מִרְיָם (Miryam).[1]
Its meaning has been variously translated with around 70 possibilities,[2] including "sea of ", "star of the sea", "drop of the sea", "rebelliousness", "exalted one", "beloved", and "wished for child".[1] Patrick Woulfe (1923) thought that the meaning related to bitterness, related to grief, sorrow, affliction, possibly associated with childbirth, was most likely.[2]
Máire was and still is a popular name in Ireland, and is sometimes spelt in its anglicised forms Maire, (without diacritics) Maura and Moira.[1] The diminutive form Máirín has inspired the Anglicised Maureen.
Completely unrelated to this, Maire (pron. MIE-reh) is a feminine given name in Finland, said to derive from the Finnish word mairea, meaning "gushing" or "sugary".[1]
Religious exception edit
In Ireland, the variant spelling Muire is used exclusively for the Blessed Virgin Mary mother of Jesus Christ.[2] The name Máel Muire, used by both men and women, denotes "Servant of Mary".[citation needed]
People with the given name edit
- Maire Aunaste (born 1953), an Estonian journalist
- Máire Breathnach, an Irish actress
- Máire Breatnach, an Irish fiddle player
- Máire Comerford (1892–1982), an Irish republican
- Máire Drumm (1919–1976), the vice president of Sinn Féin and a commander in Cumann na mBan
- Máire Geoghegan-Quinn (born 1950), an Irish politician
- Máire Gill (1891–1977), a political activist
- Maire Gullichsen (1907–1990), Finnish art collector and patronage
- Máire Hendron, Northern Irish politician
- Máire Herbert, Irish historian
- Máire Hoctor (born 1963), a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician
- Máire Lynch (fl. 1547), a member of the Tribes of Galway
- Máire MacNeill (1904–1987), an Irish journalist, folklorist and translator
- Máire McDonnell-Garvey (1927–2009), traditional Irish musician and writer
- Máire Mhac an tSaoi (born 1922–2021), an Irish language scholar, poet, writer and academic
- Máire Mullarney (1921–2008), an Irish environmentalist, educationalist and Esperanto advocate
- Máire Nic an Bhaird (born 1982), a secondary school teacher and Irish language activist
- Máire Ní Bhraonáin or Moya Brennan, an Irish singer
- Máire Ní Chathasaigh (born 1956), an Irish harpist and singer
- Máire Ní Chinnéide (1879–1967), an Irish language activist, playwright and first President of the Camogie Association
- Máire Ní Ghuairim (1896–1964), an Irish teacher, author and Sean-nós singer
- Máire O'Neill (1885–1952), an Irish actress of stage and film
- Máire O'Neill (academic) (born 1978), an Irish data encryption academic
- Máire Uí Dhroigneáin, an Irish actress
- Máire Whelan, an Irish barrister and senior counsel
Other uses edit
- Máire was the pen name of the Irish author Séamus Ó Grianna
See also edit
- Mairi (disambiguation), includes the given name Màiri, the Scottish Gaelic form of Mary
- Máiréad, the Irish language form of Margaret (Mairead in Scottish Gaelic)
References edit
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