Girl's name
Sadhbh
“SIVE (rhymes with 'hive')”
IPA: /ˈsˠəivˠ/
'sweetness, goodness'
Why it is said that way
The dh is silent and the bh is a v, so five consonants make three sounds: SIVE, rhyming with hive.
- bh, mh → v — or w in the middle of a word
- dh, gh → silent, or a soft y at the start
The story behind the name
One of the commonest names in medieval Ireland, a daughter of Brian Boru bore it, and one of the hardest for outsiders to read: four letters, one syllable, said 'sive'. In the Fenian tales, Sadhbh is the woman turned into a deer who becomes the mother of Oisín. John B. Keane's play 'Sive' put it on the modern stage.
Surnames built on this name
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