My English Name--Eva

Everyone needs to have an English name because we use it when communicate with the foreigner. My English name is Eva, the only reason I chose it just because it is simple and easy to remember. However I am very curious what the meaning of this name. Until one day, I found out the result in some reference, there is a interesting explanation. Eva is a female given name, the Latinate counterpart of English Eve, derived from Hebrew name meaning "life" or "living one." It is the standard biblical form of Eve in many European languages.

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 1889 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^[update], 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). ^{[citation needed]} The Hebrew equivalent of Eva is "Hawwa," (or "Chava"), meaning "life".

By Eva