Ava is currently sitting very prettily at number 12 in the top 100 Baby Names in England and Wales 2009. 2,827 baby girls were given the name Ava in 2009 having leaped a mighty 419 places over the last decade.
Ava is more popular now than it has ever been due to its use by many celebrities, such as Reece Witherspoon, Heather Locklear, Hugh Jackman, Myleene Klass, to name just a few; a Hollywood legend namesake -- the gorgeous Ava Gardner; and short bell-like quality popular in many current favourites such as Eva, Mia, Ella, Lila and Amy.
But, lets take a stroll back to when Ava wasn't such a huge hit in search of some Ava-esque alternatives.
Ada - Lord Byron named his daughter Augusta Ada in 1815 and this simple-yet-lovely name was a huge hit in the 19th and early 20th century, only falling out of the top 100 in the 1930s.
Ena - popularised in 1887 at the baptism of Princess Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg. She was meant to be named Victoria Eugenie Julia Eua, however Eua was misread as Ena during the ceremony and she was popularly known as Ena ever since.
Eva - this latinisation of Eve has been recorded in use since the 12th century
Ida - brought over by the Normans this name gradually died out in the 14th century but became a fashionable favourite in the 19th century when Tennyson used it for his heroine in The Princess (1847).
Iva - this feminisation of Ivan became fashionable in the late 19th century.
Vera - came into use in the at the very end of the 19th century and was a popular Edwardian favourite most likely due to the novel A Cigarette Maker's Romance by F Marion Crawford (1890).
If we look further we can also see some interesting elaborations of Ava:
1840-1900 -
Avas / Avis
Avanda
Avalena / Avalina / Avalenia
Avaline
Avarella
Avarena / Avarina / Avarinah
Avarilda
Avarilla
Avarilita
Avarlida
Avauna
1901-1980 -
Avala
Avalyn
Avaril
Avarine
Avary
Present -
Avani / Avaani
Avalon
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