Eva
Feminine · “life”
Eva is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 284,761 girls against 1,007 boys since 1880. See Eva as a boy name
Little Eva was the most famous child in nineteenth-century America. She dies about two-thirds of the way through the novel that did more than any speech to turn northern opinion against slavery, and her death scene was performed on stage, printed on handkerchiefs and recited in parlours for fifty years.
How old is the name Eva?
Eva was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Eva alive today was born around 1939, making them about 86 years old. About 139,000 people named Eva are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Eva most popular?
Eva peaked in 1889, reaching #31 nationally. Today it ranks #134, 103 places below that high. See the whole 1889 chart.
Where it comes from
From a Hebrew word about living to Eva
The story of Eva
The book sold in numbers nobody had seen before and was adapted for the stage almost immediately, in versions the author had no control over and made no money from. The stage versions ran continuously for decades and made the death of the child the emotional center of the whole thing; there were troupes that performed nothing else. The name went up in the American record in exactly those years. It is one of the clearest cases in the whole record of a single book, and one character in it, moving a name across a country.
Meaning
life, or living
The Hebrew name is built on a word for living, and the Bible explains it as meaning the mother of all who live — which is a gloss on the story rather than a strict etymology. Eva is the Latin form and the one most European languages use; the English Eve is the outlier. It has been in continuous use for two thousand years and is currently rising again after a long dip.
Cultural footprint
Eva Perón (b. 1919) — Evita — Argentina's legendary First Lady
Eva Longoria (b. 1975) — Desperate Housewives star and producer
Eva Green (b. 1980) — Casino Royale's unforgettable Bond heroine
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- a Hebrew word about living
- Eva as the Latin form used across Europe
- an American novel makes a child called Eva famous
- an American peak at the end of the nineteenth century
- rising again in this century after three quiet generations
Related forms: Eve · Eva · Chava · Eva
Pronouncing Eva
EE-vuh
Two syllables, stress at the front, in English. Most of continental Europe says AY-vuh, and both are heard in America depending on the family's background.
Nicknames for Eva
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 19184,563 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #31reached in 1889
- Change vs 2022
- −16.4%2,154 in 2025, from 2,576
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Eva in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Eve in English — same name
- Eva in Spanish — same name
- Chava in Hebrew — same name
- Eva in Italian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida. INSEE rounds every published count to the nearest five for statistical confidentiality; the ranks are calculated from the exact figures. International figures from INSEE, Statistics Canada, Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland. Sources
Evas among us
people named Eva are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 746 born in 2025 was named Eva
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Eva has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Eva is headed
Eva should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Eva beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Eva in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three letters, entirely readable, and used without alteration across most of Europe.
- The meaning is short, clear and about as positive as a meaning can be.
- It is old enough to be beyond fashion and current enough not to sound like a costume.
- The first vowel is said two ways and she will hear both.
- It is rising quickly, so it will be commoner among her contemporaries than in the record.
- Eve, Ava and Eva are close enough that all three will be substituted.
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What they receive
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Eva
Feminine · #134 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Evas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 139,000 people named Eva are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Eva in 2025?
- Eva ranks #134 among US girl names in 2025, with 2,154 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Eva?
- About 1 in every 746 US girls born in 2025 was named Eva — 2,154 in all.
- Will my child share the name Eva with classmates?
- Eva will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Eva
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Charlie#133 · Savannah#135 · Bella#136 · Amira#132 · Rylee#137 · Julia#131 · Emersyn#138 · Alina#130
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Eva? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Eva and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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