In defense of Nevaeh

Girl Names
21

I don’t have a huge problem with [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] to be honest, I only know one, and it does have a pretty sound to it, however, a few things do bother me with it.

1. The spelling - the [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] I taught actually spelled it N-e-v-e-a-h, which, to me is more appealing in appearance, but I am constantly finding myself mixing up the spelling of the name. The ‘A’ before ‘E’ thing really bothers me, I want it to be N-e-v-e-a-h, but, that spelling has no meaning. Technically, [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] doesn’t have a meaning other, but I’m getting to that.

2. The meaning - [name_f]Heaven[/name_f] backwards might seem like a lovely option, but, as far as I know, anything angelic backwards is demonic. Therefore, [name_f]Heaven[/name_f] backwards would actually equal to hell. Not exactly something I would want to name my child. It might just be my parents who believe that, but, I was raised to believe that, so therefore, I couldn’t ever use it.

3. The feel - [name_f]Neveah[/name_f] has a very pretty sound, but it doesn’t feel like a name to me. When I see it, it’s just ‘heaven backwards’ for me, nothing more. It doesn’t have the same ‘name’ feel that [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] or [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] or [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f] have.

4. It’s ‘made up’- All names and meanings are created using elements of other languages, names and words. Latin was spoken when [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] first became popular, back in Medieval Times, hence why [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] is still so commonly used - it became a classic name that everyone loves. [name_f]Lucinda[/name_f] is a made up name, however it was made up using elements from other names. [name_f]Vanessa[/name_f] is another made up name from literature, however, it was created as a nickname for a real woman, named [name_f]Esther[/name_f] Vanhomrigh. [name_m]Jonathan[/name_m] Swift, who created the name took [name_u]Van[/name_u] from [name_f]Esther[/name_f]'s surname, and [name_f]Essa[/name_f], a nickname for [name_f]Esther[/name_f], to create the name.

I don’t have a problem with anyone liking [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f], and, I’m sure someone upper class has used it. I know in the UK, [name_m]Tom[/name_m] Cleverley (a footballer who plays for Manchester United) and his fiance [name_f]Georgina[/name_f] Dorsett from The Only [name_m]Way[/name_m] Is [name_m]Essex[/name_m] (TOWIE) had a daughter named [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] last year, right around the time that [name_m]Marvin[/name_m] Humes from JLS and [name_f]Rochelle[/name_f] Wiseman from The Saturdays had [name_f]Alaia[/name_f]-[name_f]Mai[/name_f]. I think [name_f]Georgina[/name_f] Dorsett being a cast member of TOWIE would likely pull the image of the name way down in [name_f]England[/name_f].

As for the US, [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] was the 3rd most popular name for girls of African-American descent in [name_m]New[/name_m] [name_m]York[/name_m] (which, to my knowledge has a large number of African-American people living in it), which, although it is racist, could bring it down considerably.

22

I dislike [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] for the following reasons:

  1. It has no depth or history to it. A singer/rapper called [name_u]Sonny[/name_u] Sandoval came up with the idea in the year 2000 or so. I guess many people liked his music because he’s largely responsible for its popularity (see No# 3 below).

  2. It’s an anagram - heaven spelled backwards. Does that mean you’ve named your daughter Hell? Does that mean that the name means “nothing”???

  3. No one ever heard of it until [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] suddenly rocketed into the top 1,000 popular names at No# 266. What do you call a name that has never been in the charts and then comes out of nowhere to climb to No# 266? I call that “MEGA-TRENDY”. It has since reached No# 39 in the US.

  4. I wouldn’t want to give a child a name that is consistently voted the “most hated name in [name_u]America[/name_u]” in practically every baby name poll taken. The name is VERY divisive. PRO and [name_u]CON[/name_u].

  5. The spelling doesn’t make sense - [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] looks like a a bunch of letters thrown together. The name has now created a small industry of new spellings.

  6. I don’t know if I like the sound of it because I’m not sure how to pronounce it. Who knows for sure? It’s made up and the spelling doesn’t help much.

You can defend the name all you want as it’s your right. [name_m]Alas[/name_m], I don’t think you’ll change my mind. :slight_smile:

BTW - I forgot to mention that I took Latin in high school for many years, Latin masses are still held in some Roman Catholic churches and both Latin and Greek are offered as “Classical Studies” in some universities around the world so the language is definitely still alive.

23

I’m not a fan because it just looks like a handful of scrabble tiles that someone has rearranged to make a name, it just doesn’t make sense to me. And I really don’t know how its pronounced (can anyone enlighten me?)

As pps have said, the fact that the name is made up doesn’t really mean anything. Lots of nameberry favourites are made up, eg [name_f]Wendy[/name_f] and [name_f]Coraline[/name_f] and [name_f]Yvaine[/name_f], but I suspect that J.M. [name_u]Barrie[/name_u] and [name_u]Neil[/name_u] Gaiman are more respected in these parts than this [name_u]Sonny[/name_u] Sandoval guy.

In regards to it being ‘lower class’ or too trendy, that’s just name snobbery imho. If you don’t want to use a name because you don’t want to be associated with a certain group, whatever the reason, then fine. But I don’t think others should be judged for having different standards. [name_m]Just[/name_m] my two cents.

Fwiw, I only know of one little girl called [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] (its actually one of her middle names), and the family are VERY upper class- I mean castles and yachts kind of upper class.

24

I dont about [name_f]Yvaine[/name_f]…but [name_f]Wendy[/name_f] and [name_f]Coraline[/name_f] are also names of characters in a book. People could choose that name because they it was a favourite book, or they relate to the character. [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] doesn’t really have that.

As for pronunciation, I’ve always heard it as “[name_u]Nev[/name_u]-ay-uh”.

25

[name_f]My[/name_f] reasons for hating (like absolute dislike of) [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] have nothing to do with class. Personally I don’t care for the spelling or sound, but that is just an aside. The reason I can’t tolerate the name is precisely because it is heaven spelt backwards. It is important to remember and not brush over the fact that Satantic cults spell words backwards in order for the new word to mean the opposite of the original word. Therefore according to these beliefs [name_f]Heaven[/name_f] spelt backwards is intended to mean the exact opposite of heaven, and it annoys me to no end that so many people seem to negate this very simple fact.

You believe in God and [name_f]Heaven[/name_f] yet you overlook the very simple fact that Satanic cults spell words backwards to negate the meaning? Come on now.

26

THIS. To a t. I especially agree with #2 because when I think of [name_f]Neveah[/name_f] being the opposite of heaven I think of hell.

27

Honestly, I don’t know how I feel about it. The whole idea of [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] is extremely cheesy to me. I honestly don’t think [name_u]Sonny[/name_u] Sandoval was THAT popular–my brother listened to their music when we were teenagers, but they’ve got a sort of niche following. Started out as [name_m]Christian[/name_m] rappers, and I never really seemed to notice that they got widespread fame outside of the [name_m]Christian[/name_m] music genre. I think people just heard of the idea, and it just spread like wildfire. I didn’t even remember he was the one who is credited with [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f]'s beginning. Yeah, [name_f]Heaven[/name_f]'s a pretty exciting thing. And I’d be happy to include some association to my faith in my child’s name, but [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f]? I wouldn’t make up a name, and I wouldn’t spell a word backwards just to make up a name. It’s confusing when spelled out. (For years, I thought it was said like neh-VAY.) And I think other [name_m]Christian[/name_m] musicians have MUCH better named children, off the top of my head ([name_m]Moses[/name_m], [name_f]Penelope[/name_f], [name_f]Arianne[/name_f], [name_f]Isabella[/name_f], [name_m]Josiah[/name_m], [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m], [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m], [name_f]Luella[/name_f], Truitt, [name_m]Judah[/name_m], [name_m]Leo[/name_m], etc…), not to mention his two other kids (it’s [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f], [name_u]Marley[/name_u], and [name_u]Justice[/name_u]…). I just don’t get the appeal, I suppose. It’s heaven spelled backward. Oh, whoop-dee-doo.

I agree it’s not just a lower-class thing, though–I know of upper-middle class families who are suggesting [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] to their friends on FB. They probably don’t even know where it came from, or how many people truly hate it. “Oh, what about [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f]? It’s heaven spelled backwards!” Like it’s novel, and unexpected. I’m more annoyed at how it’s framed than how low-class people say it actually is.

And honestly, some of my favorite little kids are these love-starved, food-starved inner-city kids who have names most Berries would deem as MUCH worse than [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f], and I love them to bits. They’re great kids. And yeah, I’ve come to love some names I think Berries would cringe at, like [name_u]Bentley[/name_u] and Arianny and Lexanny and such. But oh, well. I love those kids. And honestly, my strongest association to them is a little [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] I’ve only heard of in passing. In the network of stories that I worked at before the current job I hold, a manager at a different store from mine passed away from a heart attack, at the age of 24. We didn’t know him, but we were trying to save up money for his family through our store, and he left behind his wife, and two children, [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f], 4, and [name_m]Alexander[/name_m], 1. You don’t have to care about names to feel sympathy, and honestly, I just think of that little girl and how she must miss her daddy so bad.

It’s not my favorite name, but I’m generally not a fan of “N” names in general, and there are other “N” names I like much less (including [name_f]Naomi[/name_f]!). It does make me sick that we judge people so easily, though, and I certainly hope that if we ever come across a [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] in real life, we wouldn’t judge so harshly.

28

[name_f]My[/name_f] issue with [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] (along with names like her but I’m just focusing on [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f])…

  • The spelling normally names like [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] and in this example [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] herself is that the spelling isn’t legit nor looks legit. Whenever I look at this name it generally looks as if the individual has spelt the name wrong despite the fact that of course they haven’t as it’s heaven spelt backgrounds.

  • The meaning as the lovely lady above mentioned; [name_f]Heaven[/name_f] has no meaning!! Hey [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] may seem like a lovely option, how brilliant is this name? It’s [name_f]Heaven[/name_f] backwards, it’s just so lovely! However this isn’t the case anything back to front in a religious content usually means it’s demonic, it means hell - Satanism - which means that [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] is actually hell!!! Which despite being from a multi-faith background and hell being a thing which is one half of my family doesn’t believe in, I wouldn’t want to name my child to essentially be called hell. People naming their child [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] need to wake up to the fact that this name goes against religious connotations.

  • [name_f]Neveah[/name_f] isn’t pretty!!! Also the name doesn’t feel like name. [name_m]How[/name_m] can you compare the likes of [name_f]Juliet[/name_f] to [name_f]Neveah[/name_f]? I have never met a [name_f]Neveah[/name_f] but whenever I hear this name I just think ‘heaven spelt backwards’.

  • It’s made up, all names and meanings are created using elements of other languages, names and words. They’re not just made up by some rapper back in the 2000s like somebody mentioned.

Hey if you like [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] go for it but in my personal opinion it’s dreadful and does sound like a potential stripper name. It’s trashy and you know what I wouldn’t say to [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] your name is trashy but nameberry is a naming website where individuals can discuss their personal views on certain names and my personal opinion on [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] and names like her are that there dreadful and I wouldn’t use them at all, my reasoning clearly labelled above.

29

[name_f]My[/name_f] problem with [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] isn’t the [name_f]Heaven[/name_f] backwards. It’s the eh on the end that I don’t like. Is it pronounced or silent? If it’s silent, why not just use the name [name_f]Neva[/name_f]? [name_f]Neva[/name_f] is really pretty [name_f]IMO[/name_f], but if you named your kid [name_f]Neva[/name_f], her name would be misspelled as [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f]. And I think [name_f]Neva[/name_f] is just so much prettier. I don’t really like the letter H (not sure why.)

30

I’ve never thought of it as trashy but it strikes me as a bit cloying. The big thing that irritates is actually lawsonhaley’s first point – my instinct would be to spell it [name_f]Neveah[/name_f] so it just doesn’t look pleasing to me personally. On sound alone it’s not terrible but NMS – I prefer [name_f]Neva[/name_f] and [name_f]Niamh[/name_f]. On a more personal preference note I don’t like the connotation – what if that little girl grows up believing in different things than you do? It’s the same reason I don’t like [name_u]Angel[/name_u]. I don’t have the same problem with Biblical names as many of those have other connotations that don’t immediately scream “Bible” but [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] is a bit one-track for my taste.

31

I don’t think it sounds pretty. At all.

32

I don’t think the name is “trashy,” I just don’t like it. First of all, it doesn’t even look how it’s pronounced. It looks more like [name_f]Neva[/name_f]-eh than Na-vey-a. I’m also not really a fan of how it sounds. And I agree with lawsonhaley, wouldn’t heaven backwards mean hell? I’m a [name_m]Christian[/name_m], so naming my kid that probably wouldn’t be a good idea for me.

33

All issues of class aside, I personally don’t find it pretty to say, because frankly, I still am not sure how to correctly pronounce it. Like [name_f]Neva[/name_f] and the end of [name_f]Leah[/name_f]? Nehv-ay-ee-uh?

In any case, despite whatever name snobbery that Berries can be accused of, I find it to be an ugly name. [name_m]Just[/name_m] like others might find [name_f]Edith[/name_f] and [name_f]Florence[/name_f], names I like, to be disgusting, there will always be those who think that [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] is ridiculous and unpleasant to the eye and ear. I’m entitled to my opinion, and mean no disrespect to anyone named or has named their child [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f]. It is a fact that there will be those who stereotype and make assumptions based off of people’s names. No, it’s not right, it’s unjustifiable, but it’s true. If that doesn’t bother people, and they truly love the name, then they should go forth and call themselves/their children that.

34

Sorry not pretty at all. I will probably be lynched, but I find it trashy like [name_f]Destiny[/name_f], [name_u]Cheyenne[/name_u], [name_u]Shiloh[/name_u], etc.

35

[name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] doesn’t chart in Australia but I don’t find it trashy, i have a name viewed as trashy and lower class in the US. The reasons why I dislike [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] is I don’t get the pronunciation I know its [name_u]Nev[/name_u]-ay-ah but would many people know that? It will end up having history one day most likely it will turn out to be like [name_f]Vanessa[/name_f] and [name_f]Wendy[/name_f] a name with history even though it was made up in the past. [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] is only bad now because of how long ago it was made up in 2000

36

As a [name_m]Christian[/name_m], I think there are some beautiful, legitimate names with legitimate (even ancient) roots that honor God. [name_m]Even[/name_m] some are on trend- such as [name_f]Eliana[/name_f]. Personally, I would never use [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] because in Satanism, saying the [name_m]Lord[/name_m]'s Prayer backwards is a way to get rid of the effects of Christianity. The word heaven appears multiple times, and so basically, when you say [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f], it’s disowning God. Now, that is a bit of a stretch, but it’s a bit too close for comfort. I’m also pretty sure that most people who choose the name don’t know that, though.

But, that aside, why make up a name when there are so many gorgeous names that have histories, meanings and namesakes?

What really bothers me is that a lot of people who choose [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] believe it is unique. Um, no! It ranks in the 20s/30s for girls. I’ve personally only met one [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f], which was a six month year old girl. Her parents said, “Her name is [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] (na-VAY-uh). It’s heaven spelled backwards. Isn’t is creative?” It took me all my strength to smile and nod and not burst out into a name nerd rant about how popular it is. I live in a relatively (upper) middle class area, so the parents were most likely well educated (and they appeared to be.) But yet, they still chose the name [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f].

Then, there’s the pronunciation issues. [name_f]My[/name_f] birth name was so confusing that I personally would never saddle a child with a name that had more than two likely pronunciations. The general consensus among parents seems to be nuh-VAY-uh, but I’ve seen it as nuh-VAY and nee-VUH.

However, I strongly believe we should refrain from making negative comments about others’ names. I have done that in the past and really regretted it. If a child is named [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f], then the parents really love the name. There may be so many other great names out there, but beauty is in the eye of beholder. Heck, some names on my list are found ugly by some people. (Believe me, I’ve had friends who have said I shouldn’t have kids because I like the names [name_f]Cordelia[/name_f] and [name_m]Evander[/name_m]. Seriously?)

37

I actually think it’s a beautiful name. I love the sound (even if it isn’t particularly sensical), and to some parents it may be very meaningful. I would rather be named [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] myself than many other established, legitimate names which I find ugly; such as [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f], [name_f]Phyllis[/name_f], [name_f]Brunhilde[/name_f], et cetera. So, regardless of my personal taste, I’m not opposed to creative names as long as they aren’t hindering to a childs image, or just randomly picked. I don’t find [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] to be in those categories.

38

I am [name_m]German[/name_m] and I find this to be a very narrow view of how Germans view American/English names. Many people in Germany (of all classes) are going through a similar “hipster” search for new names for their children. (Because of existing naming laws their best option is to look for names outside of the [name_m]German[/name_m] language). We can get into a whole discussion of how this coincides the redefining of the [name_m]German[/name_m] spirit which is most visible in the generation of Germans just becoming parents but… that’s sort of off topic. I know a number of people from the richest families in Germany to those basically on food stamps who have given their children what most berries would consider to be respectable “English" names such as [name_u]Julie[/name_u], [name_f]Elinor[/name_f], [name_f]Helen[/name_f], [name_u]Elliott[/name_u], [name_m]Henry[/name_m] etc.

Back to [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] - I dislike that it’s a bit counterintuitive in spelling and pronunciation. Also while I’m not religious I do feel that naming your child heaven backwards is probably not a desirable thing. It does suggest the opposite of heaven to me and well that would be hell. (I know this was mentioned before - but this is why I dislike the name. The only other name I dislike this much is Reneesme - which in my mind should be Renesme and even then feels like verbal diarrhea to me when I say it out loud.)

39

Excuse my ignorance but how do you even pronounce the name? Nivea or Nah-vay-ah?

I prefer [name_f]Seraphine[/name_f] or [name_f]Angelica[/name_f] or even Halo.

40

Excuse my ignorance but how do you even pronounce the name? Nivea or Nah-vay-ah?

I prefer [name_f]Seraphine[/name_f] or [name_f]Angelica[/name_f] or even Halo.

Btw i like [name_f]Savannah[/name_f] too :slight_smile: i would have chosen it but hubby gave it two thumbs down