Used for girls and boys
Ailbhe
“AL-va”
possibly from albho, 'white', or from ail, 'rock' — 'noble, bright'
The story behind the name
Used for women and men alike. St Ailbhe of Emly was a bishop in Munster before Patrick's mission was finished — one of the 'pre-Patrician' saints, said to have been suckled by a she-wolf as an abandoned infant, and remembered as the patron of Munster.
Where the name belongs
Famous people with this name
- Ailbhe Smyth (born 1946) — Irish activist and feminist
Irish people with an English Wikipedia article whose given name is recorded as Ailbhe on Wikidata; descriptions from Wikidata.
Meanings follow Ó Corráin & Maguire's Irish Names and Woulfe; pronunciations give the commonest Irish-English form. Know this name better — a dialect pronunciation, a family tradition? Tell us. · All Irish names A–Z