Eva (name)

Eva
Gender Female
Origin
Word/name Latin, Sanskrit
Meaning "Life"
"Living one"
Other names
Related names Eve Ieva
Look up Eva in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
For a list of people with the name Eva, see Eva (given name).

Eva is a female given name, the Latinate counterpart of English Eve, derived from a Hebrew name meaning "life" or "living one." It can also mean full of Life or mother of life. It is the standard biblical form of Eve in many European languages.

Popularity

During the 1990 United States Census, approximately 0.159 percent of females counted had the first name Eva. The popularity of the name Eva has been consistently in the top 300s, according to the Social Security Administration website. Popularity peaked in 1989 when the name hit No. 31. It began to dip, gradually falling into top 300s, until the turn of the 21st century, when the frequency of the name Eva began to rise. As of 2006, it sat at No. 124.[1]

In England and Wales, Eva was reasonably popular around 1900, but it has been little used since, Eve and Evie being the more popular forms today. The name is traditionally more popular in Ireland and Scotland, as an anglicisation of the Gaelic Aoife, meaning "shining" or "radiant". The name is often mistaken as Eve.

The name is popular in continental Europe (particularly in Northern Europe after the Reformation). The Hebrew equivalent of Eva is חוה (Ḥawwah, often anglicized as Chava), meaning "life". The name Eva is often changed to 'Eve'.

In Sanskrit the meaning of the name Eva (इवा) is "one who gives life".

Variant: Evita

Evita is a diminutive form of the Spanish name "Eva", most often referring to María Eva Duarte de Perón.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Social Security Administration – Popular Baby Names