Muire as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Muire

What is the meaning of the name Muire ?

The baby name Muire is a Female name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced IPA: /ˈmɪrʲə/; respelling: 'MWIR-uh'.

Muire is Irish in Origin.

Muire is the Irish-language form reserved for the Virgin Mary, distinct from Máire, the everyday Irish equivalent of Mary. It enters Irish via Latin Maria from Hebrew Miryam. In medieval and modern usage, Muire appears chiefly in religious texts, hymns, and devotions (e.g., Muire Mháthair, “Mother Mary”), and by long-standing convention was not bestowed on laypeople in Ireland. While occasionally adopted today by revivalists or diaspora families, it remains rare and can carry a specifically Marian, ecclesiastical tone.

Related forms include Máire (Irish), Màiri/Mairi (Scottish Gaelic), Moira and Maura (Anglicized), and the wider Mary, Marie, and Maria; diminutives include Máirín/Maureen. The name ultimately derives from Miryam, of uncertain meaning - often interpreted as “beloved,” “wished-for child,” or “bitter” - while Christian tradition favors the epithet “star of the sea” (stella maris). The resemblance between Muire and Irish muir “sea” is incidental, though it reinforces the Marian maritime symbolism common in Irish culture.