Friday, 18 September 2009

Naomh

Gender: Feminine
Pronunciation: NAYV
Meaning: Saint


Simply comes from the Irish word naomh. Naomh used to be a general word meaning "holy". Now, the predominant meaning is "saint". Saint Patrick and Saint Bridget (pictured) are called Naomh Pádraig and Naomh Bríd as Gaeilge. There are many schools and GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) clubs in Ireland that have "Naomh" in their name because they were named in honour of a saint. Though naomh is a masculine noun, it is used as a feminine name in Ireland.

This name has a diminutive, Naomhín, and the variant Naoimh is also used. There is also a masculine form of Naomh - Naomhán. Naomhán and Naomhín share the same meaning - "little saint".

On a side note, there is a beautiful comhfhocal (compound word) "naomhluan". It means "halo of a saint" from the words naomh and luan (which means, in this context, halo).

In the Gaelic type, this name is written Naoṁ.

3 comments:

  1. What a horrible way to spell 'Neev'. Why can't the Irish spell phonetically? Oh yeah, because they are idiots...

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  2. That's not the Irish spelling for 'neev' your thinking of niamh, two completely different names, silly American learn how to read

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  3. The language is different therefore the alphabet is different. Please learn about the linguistics of a language before berating it and showing your ignorance.

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