Caoimhe

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 3 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Caoimhe is also recorded as 3 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name349 records spelled Caoimhe3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Ireland, United Kingdom, United States, Argentina

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Caoimhé

• Indonesian given name67 records spelled Caoimhe3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Ireland, United Kingdom, United States

  Also written Caoímhe

• a separate given name59 records spelled Caoimhe2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Ireland, United Kingdom

  Also written Cáoimhe

32 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Caoimhe is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• Pronounced Key-vuh. A name that has recently gained in popularity and which means ‘gentle, graceful beauty’. Anglicised spellings include Keavy or Keava.

  as a name·Irish first names

• ? Irish Gaelic name, pronounced ‘kee-va’, from a vocabulary word meaning ‘gentleness’, ‘loveliness’, or ‘grace’.

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• Irish Gaelic: modern name representing the abstract noun derived from the vocabulary word caomh kind, gentle (earlier ‘beloved’ or ‘beautiful’; cf. KEVIN ).

  as a word

• In Irish, gentleness, mildness, sweetness

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Scottish Gaelic, comparative degree of caomh

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

GB NISRA — Baby names Northern Ireland full list (1997–present) — 29 years between 1997–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Caoimhe Butterlyb. 1978IEIrish activist and psychotherapist
• Caoimhe Archibaldb. 1981GBIrish Sinn Féin politician (born 1981)
• Caoimhe Perdueb. 2000IEIrish field hockey player
• Caoimhe O'Brienb. 2002IEIrish cyclist
• Caoimhe MarshallIEIrish researcher
• Caoimhe Ní ChathailIEIrish broadcaster

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 146 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Caoimhe?

We estimate roughly 326 people bear Caoimhe (counting its spellings and scripts) across 6 countries in our records.

In which country does Caoimhe have the most bearers?

Caoimhe is most frequently recorded in Ireland, where it is most often spelled caoimhe.

How common is Caoimhe compared with other names?

In Ireland, Caoimhe is the 90th most common given name of 13,994 given names recorded there.

Is Caoimhe a male or female name?

Caoimhe is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Caoimhe mean?

Recorded meaning: Recently popular; means 'gentle, graceful beauty'.