Girl's name
Máire
“MOY-ra”
IPA: /ˈmˠɑːɾʲə/
the Irish form of Mary
The story behind the name
For centuries the single commonest name for an Irish woman — so revered that many families used Máire only in religious contexts and called daughters Maureen (Máirín) or Moira instead. Máire Mhac an tSaoi was one of the great Irish-language poets of the 20th century.
Famous people with this name
- Máire Geoghegan-Quinn (born 1950) — Irish politician
- Máire Mhac an tSaoi (1922–2021) — Irish writer, poet, linguist and academic
- Maire O'Neill (1885–1952) — Irish actress
- Máire Drumm (1919–1976) — Northern Irish politician
- Máire Ní Chinnéide (1879–1967) — writer and Gaelic games administrator
Irish people with an English Wikipedia article whose given name is recorded as Máire 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