Niamh
Feminine · “bright”
Niamh is Irish for brightness or radiance, and it belongs to one of the best-known figures of Irish story — the woman who takes Oisín away to the land of youth on a white horse.
How old is the name Niamh?
Niamh first appears in US birth records in 1969 — 56 years ago. The typical Niamh alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 1,600 people named Niamh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Niamh most popular?
Niamh peaked in 2001, reaching #2304 nationally. Today it ranks #3517, 1,213 places below that high. See the whole 2001 chart.
Niamh appears on this list:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Niamh
In the tale Niamh comes from Tír na nÓg, the land of the young, and carries Oisín away with her; when he returns three hundred years have passed. The name was revived in Ireland in the twentieth century as part of the broader return to Irish names and became one of the most-used in the country. Its spelling is entirely regular in Irish and completely opaque in English, which is why Neve and Neave exist.
Meaning
bright, radiant
From Irish niamh, brightness or luster; the word is an ordinary noun in Irish as well as a name, and Niamh Chinn Óir, Niamh of the golden hair, is the figure of the Fenian tales.
Pronouncing Niamh
NEEV
One syllable, rhyming with leave. The mh is a v sound in Irish, which English readers have no way of knowing.
Nicknames for Niamh
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1969
- Most girls named
- 200874 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2304reached in 2001
- Change vs 2024
- −15.7%43 in 2025, from 51
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Niamh in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Niamh in Irish — same name
- Neve in English — spelling variant
- Neave in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, Massachusetts, California. International figures from National Records of Scotland. Sources
Niamhs among us
people named Niamh are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 37,378 born in 2025 was named Niamh
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Letisia test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Niamh's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Letisia climbed just as high around 1979, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Letisia's path sketches the road Niamh is walking now.
Niamh sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Niamh is headed
Niamh should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Niamh beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Niamh in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled meaning in a living language, and a genuinely lovely one.
- One of the great names of Irish story, with a documented literary history.
- Very widely used in Ireland, so it has a real community that knows it exactly.
- Nobody outside Ireland can read the spelling, and she will pronounce it for strangers all her life.
- Neve and Niamh are the same name and American systems will prefer the first.
- The mh is entirely regular in Irish and entirely invisible in English.
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What they receive
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Niamh
Feminine · #3517 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Niamhs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,600 people named Niamh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Niamh in 2025?
- Niamh ranks #3517 among US girl names in 2025, with 43 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Niamh?
- About 1 in every 37,378 US girls born in 2025 was named Niamh — 43 in all.
- Will my child share the name Niamh with classmates?
- Niamh will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Niamh
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Maida#3517 · Amada#3517 · Afton#3517 · Allura#3517 · Jaina#3517 · Hallee#3517 · Katara#3517 · Joella#3517
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Niamh? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Niamh and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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