Girl or boy · Old Irish
Ailbhe
Say it: AL-vuh
Meaning
Uncertain; derivations from words for 'white' or 'rock' have been proposed, none proven.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
Borne by men and women in early Ireland; today mainly a girls' name.
Its wave through time
No birth counts are recorded for this name in the records loaded here: it has been given to fewer than five babies a year, or not at all, since records began.
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Ailbe
Famous bearers
- Saint Ailbe of Emly
- Ailbe, daughter of Cormac mac Airt in Fenian tales
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
- National birth statistics of European countries source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.