Ava: meaning and UK use

What does Ava mean?

The cited entry covers the English name Ava. The dictionary has separate Persian and Germanic entries with the same spelling; a family's intended language matters.

Language or name family covered

English name family

Meaning or derivation

An English variant of Eve

Our browsing group

girl; modern

Browsing groups describe our editorial shortlist, not rules about who may use a name. A name can cross languages and genders.

Sources for this entry — reviewed 2026-10-07:

• Behind the Name — Ava

Pronunciation and related forms

AY-vuh (English)

English respellings are approximate; IPA is labelled where used. Follow the pronunciation a person or family chooses, and check it with a speaker of the intended language if that connection matters to you.

Related forms recorded in the reference: Eva, Eve, Avah. These may be full forms, diminutives or forms in another language; they are not necessarily pronounced alike or counted together in statistics.

How popular is Ava?

In 2025, 1,611 baby girls in England and Wales were registered as Ava, making it the 11th most popular girls’ name. That is down 2 places on 2024, when it ranked 9th. It has slipped from 5th in 2015, 6 places in ten years. Its best year in the ONS series was 2018, at 3rd. These figures cover England and Wales, not the whole UK.

2025 rank (girls)

11th

2025 registrations

1,611

Best rank in this series

3rd (2018)

Every year from 1996 to 2025

Ava: rank and number of baby girls by year (ONS)

Year	Rank	Babies
2025	11	1,611
2024	9	1,774
2023	6	2,050
2022	4	2,293
2021	4	2,576
2020	4	2,679
2019	4	2,946
2018	3	3,110
2017	4	3,289
2016	5	3,285
2015	5	3,414
2014	6	3,171
2013	4	3,575
2012	6	3,779
2011	9	3,621
2010	11	3,438
2009	12	2,827
2008	21	2,314
2007	38	1,377
2006	60	966
2005	82	657
2004	153	346
2003	164	295
2002	204	214
2001	205	194
2000	291	129
1999	429	70
1998	530	51
1997	500	55
1996	753	30

The sum of published counts in this 1996–2025 girls series is 56,136. This is a lower bound where years are suppressed, not the number of living people with the name. A best rank is the best position within this series; it does not establish an all-time record.

Selected hyphenated registrations starting with Ava in 2025: Ava-Mae: 74 (girls); Ava-Rose: 71 (girls); Ava-Grace: 34 (girls); Ava-May: 26 (girls). This selection includes up to four matching forms with at least ten registrations, not every compound name.

Sources: ONS release, 2025; girls' dataset; boys' dataset. Our 20 top-ten positions were checked against Table 1 in the 2025 workbooks. The history chart and spelling comparisons come from the separate ONS 1996–2025 workbook, checked 7 October 2026. Spelling variants are separate entries. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate statistics.

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Names to compare with Ava

These suggestions share a browsing group and one or more of our style tags or source-context labels. They are taste comparisons, not etymological relatives or a popularity ranking.

• Amaramodern · Grace
• Ariamodern · Song or melody; literally air
• Diyamodern · Lamp or light
• Freyamodern · Lady
• Harpermodern · Harp player or maker
• Islamodern · Scottish form of Islay

Read the UK naming guide for the difference between inspiration lists and official statistics, or return to the full name finder.

Registering or changing the name

Once you decide on Ava, confirm the registration process for your UK nation with the register office. If you later want to change a registered name, the route depends on the circumstances and may require consent from people with parental responsibility.

Start with GOV.UK birth registration or GOV.UK guidance on changing a child’s name. Our registration guide and child name-change guide explain where to find the relevant official process.