Eva
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "life" or "life-giver".
Name Census estimates that about 127,973 living Americans carry the first name Eva. It sits at #120 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Eva today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eva births was 1918 (4,575 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eva. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Although Eva is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 1,007 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
128K
~ 1 in 2,678 Americans
Peak year
1918
4,575 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2023 SSA rank
#120
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Eva
Out of the 283,587 babies given the name Eva since 1880, 99.6% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Eva as a male name
- Ranked #12,797 in 2023
- 5 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1933 (25 births)
Eva as a female name
- Ranked #120 in 2024
- 2,296 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1918 (4,563 births)
Popularity
Eva: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eva from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 38,217 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Eva remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Eva by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Eva during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 11 | 9,800 | 9,811 |
| 1890s | 54 | 16,460 | 16,514 |
| 1900s | 91 | 18,357 | 18,448 |
| 1910s | 135 | 34,909 | 35,044 |
| 1920s | 169 | 38,048 | 38,217 |
| 1930s | 160 | 22,797 | 22,957 |
| 1940s | 95 | 17,561 | 17,656 |
| 1950s | 52 | 17,114 | 17,166 |
| 1960s | 39 | 13,591 | 13,630 |
| 1970s | 45 | 8,596 | 8,641 |
| 1980s | 80 | 7,820 | 7,900 |
| 1990s | 21 | 8,002 | 8,023 |
| 2000s | 19 | 21,352 | 21,371 |
| 2010s | 31 | 35,209 | 35,240 |
| 2020s | 5 | 12,964 | 12,969 |
Geography
Where Evas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Eva, while Delaware, Alaska, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 4,624 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Eva
The name Eva is derived from the Hebrew name Chavah, which means "life-giver" or "source of life." It is the original name given to the first woman in the biblical Book of Genesis. In the Hebrew Bible, Chavah is said to be the mother of all living beings, created by God from the rib of Adam, the first man.
The name Eva is a latinized version of the Hebrew name, and it was popularized in various European languages, including English, German, Spanish, and Italian. The earliest recorded use of the name Eva dates back to the 13th century in English and German texts.
One of the earliest historical references to the name Eva comes from the 14th century English poem "Cursor Mundi," which retells the story of the creation and the fall of Adam and Eve. The name Eva also appears in several other medieval literary works, such as the 14th century German poem "Der Ackermann aus Böhmen" by Johannes von Tepl.
In the 16th century, the name Eva gained popularity in various European countries due to the influence of the Protestant Reformation and the renewed focus on the Bible. One of the most famous historical figures with the name Eva was Eva von Trott zu Solz (1901-1944), a German resistance fighter against the Nazi regime during World War II.
Another notable Eva in history was Eva Perón (1919-1952), the second wife of Argentine President Juan Perón and a powerful political figure in her own right. Known as "Evita," she was a champion of the working class and played a significant role in securing women's suffrage in Argentina.
Eva Braun (1912-1945) was the long-time companion and, briefly, the wife of Adolf Hitler. Although controversial, she remains one of the most well-known historical figures with the name Eva.
Eva Duarte (1919-1952), better known as Eva Perón or Evita, was an Argentine political leader and activist who played a crucial role in the women's suffrage movement and the rights of the working class in Argentina.
Eva Hesse (1936-1970) was a renowned American artist known for her pioneering work in the field of sculpture, particularly her innovative use of unconventional materials such as latex, fiberglass, and plastics.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Eva
People
Eva + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eva as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Eva: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eva?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 127,973 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eva going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,678 US residents.
Is Eva a common name?
We classify Eva as "Common". It ranks above 99.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 283,587 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eva most popular?
The single biggest year for Eva was 1918, when 4,575 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eva is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Eva a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Eva in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.