Ava Meaning Iniquity

I have read in several places on the internet that the Biblical Hebrew meaning of the name [name]Ava[/name] is iniquity(sin). Some reference [name]Hitchcock[/name]'s Bible Names Dictionary(1869). This iniquity meaning is disturbing. There are so many little girls that are named [name]Ava[/name] these days. But who wants to name their daughter something that really means iniquity? I don’t think many people have heard of this meaning because most websites show the Latin meaning of “Like a [name]Bird[/name]”. Although extremely popular, I had been considering [name]Ava[/name] as a gorgeous old Hollywood name to give my daughter. My husband loves the sound of it! However, this meaning of iniquity has me thinking twice. What do you think?

I don’t think so many people know all the meanings to names, and my name means [name]Honey[/name] [name]Bee[/name], but I don’t go flying around collecting honey!!! We aren’t the meaning behind our name, our name becomes us. If that makes any sense. Look at the name [name]Mary[/name], very biblical and she’s the Blessed Virgin, but the name [name]Mary[/name] actually means “Bitter”.
So I say go with what you like, and don’t worry so much about the meaning!

I personally would avoid [name]Ava[/name] due to its popularity (it’s #5 at the moment). I do think it’s really pretty, though! :slight_smile:

To my knowledge, the name [name]Ava[/name] has a meaning similar to “bird” because the latin for bird is Aves. I’ve also seen [name]Ava[/name] as a form of [name]Eve[/name] which means “life”. If you love it, use it.

Check out the meanings from the venerable naming site, behindthename.com:

None of them mentions sin (and one does tie in to Hebrew - the [name]Eve[/name] variant).

So I wouldn’t worry about this.

The top name in the U.S. for boys is [name]Jacob[/name], which means “deceiver.” Most people are more reminded of the biblical namesake [name]Jacob[/name], who although he was a mischievous fellow, was also chosen by God to father the nation of [name]Israel[/name].

I guess my point is, even if a name has a negative meaning (not that [name]Ava[/name] does), sometimes that can be overriden by the positive significance it may have for your family.

Names obviously can have more than one meaning. There aren’t that many combinations of letters that the same word can appear in two languages, meaning two different things. However, it is less common for at least American children to have names of obvious American things, and when we do, it’s usually floral or exotic or natural or functional in the language, not something negative, like Traffic or Economical, something positive like [name]True[/name] might be chosen instead of [name]Fidel[/name] or [name]Vera[/name], but really not that much. I actually think Traffic would be a common name if it was a type of rock instead of a block of cars at an intersection, and Economical would be appealing - it’s already more appealing than cheap or miserly or skinflint - if it meant something more like “wise” or “surrounded by mountains.”

The root use in the original language will be obscured unless someone points it out, and for [name]Ava[/name], the Latin for bird is really more obvious to most people than relation to iniquity in Hebrew. [name]Claudia[/name] supposedly means lame. I don’t think this combination of syllables occurs in many other languages other than variants of the name, but what a pretty name. I don’t think anyone should be bothered by their name in translation from several other languages unless it’s an obvious root of many English words, and then again, you wouldn’t come right out and name a baby Iniquity or Lame. I don’t think this is an issue, especially when [name]Ava[/name] grows up - not just yours, but everyone’s little Avas - who will find out her name means bird and not take it to mean you named her essentially ‘iniquity’ even if she runs into the same source after so many years.

I tried to get my husband to agree on the name [name]Ava[/name] as well… I also thought the meaning was soley “like a bird”… However, after unsuccessfully attempting at getting my husband to cave in, I realized that my appeal to the name is that it sounds feminine and started with a vowel…

Try considering these:
[name]Adeline[/name]
[name]Aubrey[/name]
[name]Audrey[/name]
[name]Avery[/name]
[name]Eden[/name]
[name]Emmeline[/name]
Emmeleigh
[name]Evangeline[/name]
[name]Irene[/name]
[name]Olivia[/name]

I know these dont start with a vowel, but they are feminine sounding, like [name]Ava[/name]…
[name]Cecilia[/name]
[name]Clara[/name]
[name]Delilah[/name]
[name]Nadine[/name]
[name]Natalie[/name]
[name]Violet[/name]