Maeve

Anglicized from the Old Irish Medb, the legendary warrior queen of Connacht featured in the Ulster Cycle. The linguistic root translates roughly to intoxicating. The name sat almost entirely absent from American birth rolls until 1940 and remained quiet for decades before entering broad rotation in the twenty-first century.

The name reads as modern despite having centuries of mythology behind it. In a room of toddlers, it is likely attached to someone wearing organic cotton overalls and carrying a wooden toy. Nearly three-quarters of everyone ever given this name in the United States belongs to Generation Alpha. It arrives without preamble and ends on a soft consonant.