Girl's name
Éabha
“AY-va”
the Irish form of Eve
Why it is said that way
The fada makes the É a long ay, and the bh is a v. AY-va. It is the Irish for Eve, and the two sound closer than they look.
- bh, mh → v — or w in the middle of a word
- á é í ó ú (the fada) → a long vowel — and never optional
The story behind the name
Irish took the biblical Eve and made it Éabha — and since the 2000s, when Ava became a global favourite, Irish parents have used the native spelling to keep the sound and the country in one word.
Meanings follow Ó Corráin & Maguire's Irish Names and Woulfe; pronunciations give the commonest Irish-English form. Know this name better — a dialect pronunciation, a family tradition? Tell us. · All Irish names A–Z