Eve

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Girl · Hebrew

Eve

Say it: EEV

Try it with your surname

Meaning

From Hebrew Ḥawwah, which Genesis 3:20 connects with ḥay 'living'. The link to 'life' is the accepted reading, though the exact formation is debated.

Likelythe main view, with some doubt.

Used in medieval England, often in the Latin form Eva, and widely used again in Britain since the late 20th century.

Its wave through time

Timeless: in steady use for over a century

In the United States

020406018801900192019401960198020002020Peak 2018per 100,000 babies of that sex
  • 26,687 babies given this name since 1880
  • At its height in 2018, about 1 in 2,300 girls
  • 644 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. The Biblical WorldAbout 1200 BC to AD 100
  2. The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
  3. Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
  4. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

HebrewEarly ChristianEnglishFrenchGermanSpanishItalianPolishRussian

The family of the name

Other spellings: Eva, Eave

GermanEva
FrenchÈve
SpanishEva
ItalianEva
PolishEwa
RussianYeva
HebrewChava

Famous bearers

  • Eve, the first woman in the Book of Genesis

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
  • English poll taxes and lay subsidy rolls (13th and 14th centuries)
  • National birth statistics of European countries source
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.