Máire

For other uses, see Máire (disambiguation).

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

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

• 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 Mulcahy (1937 - 2023), Irish zoologist and ecologist
• 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

• Máire was the pen name of the Irish author Séamus Ó Grianna

See also

• List of Irish-language given names
• Mairi (disambiguation), includes the given name Màiri, the Scottish Gaelic form of Mary
• Máiréad, the Irish language form of Margaret (Mairead in Scottish Gaelic)