Nevaeh
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Nevaeh |
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| Pronunciation | Na-vay, Na-vay-uh, Na-vye-uh |
| Gender | female |
| Meaning | "Heaven backwards" |
| Origin | English |
| Wikipedia articles | All pages beginning with Nevaeh |
Nevaeh is a feminine name created by writing the word heaven backwards.[1]
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[edit] History and meaning
The name is listed at sites such as http://www.behindthename.com, which classes it as a modern English name. Many fictitious origins for this name are cited elsewhere including that Nevaeh is Slavic for butterfly or Welsh for snow. It has no meaning beyond its anagrammatic connection to the word heaven.
[edit] Pronunciation and spelling
There are numerous pronunciations used for this name but the two most popular pronunciations for this name are neh-VAY-uh and nuh-VAY. A common Australian pronunciation is nuh-VY-uh. Due to pronunciation difficulties it is often respelled as Neveah, switching Heaven's e and a. Other spelling variations such as Naveah are also used to make the name more phonetically usable.
[edit] Popularity
Nevaeh was an extremely rare given name before singer Sonny Sandoval of the rock group P.O.D. named his daughter Nevaeh in 2000. He was then featured in the fall of that year on the television program MTV Cribs, and use of the name exploded. Nevaeh first entered the top 1000 names for girls born in the United States in 2001 when its popularity shot up making it the 266th most common name, as shown at www.behindthename.com. In 2005 it was the 70th most popular name for girls in the United States. In 2006, Nevaeh was the 43rd most popular girls name in the US and was the 31st most popular name for girls in 2007. It was the fourth most popular name for girls born in 2007 in New Mexico, the state where it was most popular in 2007, and was the fifth most popular name for black girls born in New York City in 2006. In a recent year it was the most popular name for black baby girls born in Colorado. The alternate spelling Neveah also reached the top 1000 names in 2006 and was the 891st most popular name for baby girls born in the United States in 2007.[2][3] [4]
Though the name's use the first year or two of its popularity can probably be attributed to Sonny Sandoval's daughter, the further spread of Nevaeh’s popularity since is in large part an Internet phenomenon. The name is widely known and discussed on baby naming boards. Baby Name Wizard’s Blog states that it is “especially popular with African Americans and evangelical Christians, and as a character name in fantasy fiction.”
The name recently gained exposure on the reality TV show Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School, when contestant Heather strongly insisted on being referred to as Nevaeh, a name she had recently adopted to further her singing career. The other participants refused to indulge her in this, calling it ridiculous, and she was expelled in the second episode.
[edit] References
- ^ Lee, Jennifer 8. (2006-05-18). And if It's a Boy, Will It Be Lleh?. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
- ^ WHAT’S IN A NAME? HEALTH DEPARTMENT RELEASES NEW YORK CITY’S MOST POPULAR BABY NAMES FOR 2006
- ^ Social Security Administration.
- ^ Lee, Jennifer 8. (2006-05-18). And if It's a Boy, Will It Be Lleh?. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-09-21.
