Meabh is the Irish form of Medb, an ancient queen's name meaning intoxicating or she who brings joy.
Meabh (also spelled Méabh, anglicized as Maeve) is one of the most ancient and powerful names in the Irish tradition, and among the most storied feminine names in all of Western mythology. The name is believed to derive from the Old Irish *medb*, meaning "she who intoxicates" or "the intoxicating one" — a root connected to the Proto-Celtic word for mead, the honey-based drink that was central to Celtic ritual, kingship, and feasting. The sovereignty goddess of the Irish tradition was often depicted offering a cup of mead to the rightful king, and the name itself became synonymous with divine feminine authority and the power to confer legitimacy.
The most famous bearer is Queen Meabh of Connacht, the fierce, brilliant, and morally complex warrior-queen at the center of the Ulster Cycle — the great body of early medieval Irish epic literature. In the *Táin Bó Cúailnge* (The Cattle Raid of Cooley), Meabh leads her armies against Ulster to claim the legendary brown bull of Cuailnge, driven by her refusal to be subordinate to any man, including her husband Ailill. She is calculating, courageous, and ruthless — a figure without easy parallel in early European literature for her unapologetic ambition.
B. Yeats revived the anglicized Maeve as a symbol of Ireland itself, and the name has carried that sovereign, untameable quality ever since. In contemporary Ireland, Meabh in its original spelling is a declaration of cultural pride — a commitment to the Irish language and its distinctive orthography, where the *mh* produces a *v* sound. The name has surged globally in recent years as Maeve, but Meabh retains the integrity of its ancient source, connecting its bearer directly to one of the most formidable women in any mythology.