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Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Alternatives to Ava

I thought I'd return to the alternatives idea, but carry on with my vague 'A' theme. For me, Ava sums up what is popular today in girls names - Ava is sassy, but she's also distinctly sweet and feminine. It's the idea that you feel like you know an Ava, even if you've never met one. Ava has the celebrity seal of approval - through Ava Gardner, and the recent influx of 'celebrities' naming their children Ava.

So Ava is very popular and has risen quickly - from 133 to 9 in the US in just 5 years, from being a rarely heard, yet known, name. It's also risen in other countries (England as an example).

What else makes Ava stand out from the crowd? She's palindromic and (if spelt in capitals) symmetrical (try putting a mirror against AVA).

What alternatives are there?

Similar in spelling:
Ada
Anna
Aviva (also symmetrical if capitalised)
Aveline
Avril
Avigail
Aviya
Ahava
Savannah
The '-slava' names - Branislava, Desislava, Miloslava, Vladislava etc.
Chava
Eva
Iva
Tova
Valerie
Ziva

Similar in meaning:
Ava can have three meanings.
1) Variant of Eve, from Hebrew to breathe, to live
Psyche (to breathe)
Zoe (life)
Asha (life)
Enid (life, soul)
Liv (protection, life)

2) Iranian meaning sound or water
Echo (echo, repeating sound)
Kotone (harp sound)
Maya (water)
Tallulah (leaping waters)

3) German, possibly desired
Asha (desire)
Desiree (desired)
Kanta (desired)
Venus (love, sexual desire)