"Genevieve" a common 19th century name?

[NewHudsonRyans]

My g-aunt Genevieve Ryan was born (after emigration to the US) to my Irish g-grandparents.

Would this have been an unusual name for a girl in Tipperary?  What would be a common nickname?

I know that my other g-aunt's baptismal sponsors were Pat and Jane Ryan, and I wondered whether Genevieve might have been named after her.

-- Mike

[barryd]

Known to those who follow Saints. A girl possibly Roman Catholic from Ireland is a likely candidate for the name.

Saint Genevieve, is the patron saint of Paris in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. Her feast day is kept on January the 3rd.

[Ruskie]

As Barry says, Genevieve is a French name. My 'Dictionary of First Names', says it was introduced to Britain from France in the 19th century. There are no 'pet forms' of the name given.

I can't comment on it's popularity in Ireland, but I have never come across an Irish Genevieve, but I have led a sheltered life.   

If it does not appear elsewhere in the family it really could have come from anywhere - friends, neighbours, prominent people of the day, or maybe the family just liked the sound of it. 

[Sinann]

Only 125 Genevieve in the 1911 Census and a few of them have it as a second name, most are RC.
Only again 125 on the birth index from 1864 to 1916

[Maiden Stone]

I also checked BMDs but only from 1864-1890. Total 40+ entries.
43 were births in 1870s and 1880s. Largest numbers were in Dublin, and counties Cork and Limerick. Some other counties had 1 or 2. Earliest was a death of a 1 year-old in 1866 and there was a 14 year-old died in Dublin 1880, so she would have been born 1865/6.
Birth & death of Genevieve Ryan was registered in Thomastown, Kilkenny 1881.
The only marriage was of a gentleman's daughter 1888.

[Maiden Stone]

Following on from Sinann's 1911 census results.
Only 4 were resident in Tipperary.
At least 5 women were nuns. (1 was born in Co. Tipperary.)
2 women were born in England and 1 in Germany.
Many women with name Genevieve seemed to have been middle class/lower middle class and urban.

[Maiden Stone]

I wonder if the name gained popularity in Ireland and Britain as a result of the Siege of Paris, September 1870- January 1871, during latter part of Franco-Prussian War.

[Maggsie]

ooops a daisy
565 in FamilySearch
I knew a few at school who were born in Ireland and lived in England.
Maggsie

[Maiden Stone]

My g-aunt Genevieve Ryan was born (after emigration to the US) to my Irish g-grandparents.

When was she born?