Máire

() is a feminine given name. It is the Irish language form of Maria, which was in turn a Latin form of the Greek names Μαριαμ (Mariam), and Μαρια (Maria), found in the New Testament. Both New Testament names were forms of the Hebrew name (Miryam).

Its meaning has been variously translated with around 70 possibilities, including "sea of ", "star of the sea", "drop of the sea", "rebelliousness", "exalted one", "beloved", and "wished for child". Patrick Woulfe (1923) thought that the meaning related to bitterness, related to grief, sorrow, affliction, possibly associated with childbirth, was most likely.

Máire was and still is a popular name in Ireland, and is sometimes spelt in its anglicised forms Maire, (without diacritics) ''Maura'' and ''Moira''. The diminutive form Máirín has inspired the Anglicised Maureen.

Completely unrelated to this, Maire (pron. MIE-reh) is a feminine given name in Finland, said to derive from the Finnish word ''mairea'', meaning "gushing" or "sugary". Provided by Wikipedia