Ava
Meaning
traditionally linked to avis, "bird," though its root is debated: medieval Avas may have carried a Germanic name or a form of Eve, "life." Borne by a ninth-century saint and by the first named woman poet in German, and reborn as a sleek modern favorite
The story
Ava is a small name with a long, uncertain history. Tradition links it to the Latin avis, bird, but scholars still debate the root: the medieval women who carried it may have borne a Germanic name, or a form of Eve, meaning life. A ninth-century saint bore it, and so did Frau Ava, who died in 1127 as the first woman known by name to write poetry in German. In Hollywood it belonged to Ava Gardner, one of the great screen faces of the 1940s and 1950s. Yet in American records it idled far from fashion for a hundred years, then began a sudden, steep ascent: quiet through the 1980s, climbing in the 1990s, and near the very top by the 2010s. Several celebrities chose it for daughters around the turn of the millennium, and while no one can prove that lit the fuse, the timing is hard to ignore.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Ava peaked in the 2010s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
583 people · the #12,038 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 333,333 · median age 22
Among people named Ava living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 145 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Ava
Most people given the name Ava in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Ava deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Ava truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Ava fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Names like Ava · Middle names for Ava · Persian baby names · Short names
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