In defense of Nevaeh

Girl Names
41

and along with [name_f]Geneva[/name_f], one of my very favorite names.

Personally, I consider [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] a true abomination. [name_m]How[/name_m] the word/name looks for me informs how it sounds and how I feel about it. I don’t care what it spells backwards; I just don’t like it. I do not place any credence in the “it is spelled backwards and thus Satanic” argument.

But then I also consider [name_f]Naiara[/name_f] and [name_f]Niamh[/name_f] pretty ghastly too.

I like names that my mouth can say. (And reading through this thread, I realize I have been mentally pronouncing this name all wrong).

I would be very surprised to meet an upper middle class [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] or [name_f]Destiny[/name_f] or [name_u]Cheyenne[/name_u]. There must be some out there, but I have not yet met them.

PS There seems to be a lot of concern out there on nameberry about whether a name is a name or just a word. To me that is all a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing. I love many word names or words that might make lovely names. I actually prefer many word names to more established names. Give me Linden over Katniss any day.

42

The only one I know pronounces it like [name_m]Nuh[/name_m]-vay-uh.

43

Most say [name_m]Nuh[/name_m] -vay-uh, but I worked at a school with a girl born towards the start of the trend pronounced NAH-vee-ay. Which makes even less sense, [name_f]IMO[/name_f].

44

I agree with you, honestly. I would never use the name myself either, but when I say it out loud it’s actually very pretty sounding! And honestly, I really like the name [name_f]Savannah[/name_f]. :slight_smile:

45

Thanks :slight_smile: wow it doesn’t look like the way it’s spelt :slight_smile:

46

I actually really like the sound of [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f]. I wouldn’t use it because it has such a bad reputation in society. But it’s got quite a pretty, feminine sound to it…which is coming from someone who mainly loves classic names.
and [name_f]Savannah[/name_f] is beautiful!

47

This is probably one of the most pathetic debates I’ve ever seen. Honestly, its a tad bit sad.

You want to know what all of you are doing? You’re being hypocrites. Hardcore hypocrites.

[name_m]How[/name_m]? Well, you’re looking at [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] like it isn’t worthy of being a name because it’s new-actually it’s more like it’s not worthy of you.

You know what? [name_f]Cora[/name_f], [name_f]Vanessa[/name_f], [name_f]Amaryllis[/name_f], [name_f]Lucinda[/name_f], [name_f]Malvina[/name_f], [name_f]Nelida[/name_f], [name_f]Nydia[/name_f]-all were made up by writers. 100 years or more later, they are regarded as lovely classics. I wonder what people thought back then-did they see these as unsophisticated trash, made for the poor? Most likely.

All of you are looking through the eyes of a word that doesn’t exist- personname. You can say you’re judging the name and not the person-but that would be a lie. Because by saying [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] is trash, and saying that it’s lower-class people, or people that are oblivious to its popularity, that are the ones that usually pick, you are-sometimes indirectly-criticizing them. Going on about how it’s an abomination, it’s Satanic because it’s heaven spelled backwards-blah, blah, blah, wah, wah, wah.

[name_f]Nelida[/name_f] is an anagram of [name_m]Daniel[/name_m]- does that mean that it’s Satanic because it was made from a religious name, the name of an angel? I don’t think so. Maybe you do, but I feel many wouldn’t.

Well, anyway, I just wanted to step in. Go ahead and rant at me, I don’t really care.

48

Trashy transcends class, so it’s really strange to see posts claiming that identifying something as trashy is somehow classist. [name_m]Hugh[/name_m] Hefner is trashy, the Kardashians are trashy…they are also ridiculously wealthy.

[name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] is super dumb, doesn’t matter how it’s spelled. It’s the point that someone takes a religious word and turns it backward. When a person says they are going to name their kid [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f], I make sure to point out that putting that particular word backwards is akin to satanism. If people want to be dumb, I’m ok pointing it out when asked. Of course, I’m not going to mock a child for their parents poor choices.

If people like the sound of [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f], I don’t know why they don’t use a more legitimate spelling. Nevea, perhaps. Or maybe Nivea, like the skin care product. Because properly caring for one’s skin is almost akin to heaven.

Not to point out the blindingly obvious, but an anagram isn’t the same as something spelled backwards.

49

Wow! I never would’ve figured out that anagram and backwards were different, because clearly I’m an idiot! Thank you, I feel enlightened! I can see over the rainbow!

Hmph. [name_m]Daniel[/name_m] is still holy. Not as holy as heaven, sure, but still holy. So, spelling it wrong(or backwards) in any way that isn’t an international variation/form, can be seen as unholy.

I mean, yeah, spelling heaven backwards is a little WTF, for obvious reasons. For me, personally, I don’t agree with [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] because nobody is worthy of being named after the greatest paradise-even I know that, and I’m not even religious.

50

I think people hate [name_f]Neveah[/name_f] not as much for the way it sounds and looks but rather for what it represents.

51

I am not going to go into a long argument because I don’t really know what I think, and a lot of people on this thread have made good arguments for both sides.

Personally, I do think it sounds pretty, and even looks nice, but then there’s the whole it’s-heaven-spelled-backwards thing.

As I said, not sure what I think yet.

52

I honestly think the majority of people who hate on the name [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] hate it because everyone else seems to, not because of their own reasons. Sure, the name is [name_f]Heaven[/name_f] backwards and some people have used the “then it’s basically Hell!” reply, but what if the parents just named their little girl [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] because, I don’t know, maybe they liked how it looked and sounded? That’s all some people care about, and that is all you really need to care about. I probably bashed this a year or so ago but I never really paid much attention to how wonderful it sounds. A family friend’s sister has a daughter called [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] and she’s white (to blow the ‘lower class PoC’ comment out of the window) and she’s middle class (to also blow the ‘lower class PoC’ comment out of the window). I would never use this name because it doesn’t fit my style, but it’s still a name in its own right and people really need to pull their heads from their arses if they look down on it for being ‘lower class’ or whatever. Names have to start somewhere, someone mentioned [name_f]Vanessa[/name_f] being made up years ago for a poem and look at it now!

54

When I say and hear [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] out loud it sounds very pretty. [name_m]Nuh[/name_m]-vey-uh. When I look at the spelling it disgusts me. I’m very much into names being spelled the original way. For example [name_u]Addison[/name_u] versus [name_m]Addysen[/name_m], [name_m]Addysen[/name_m] makes me cringe. Now another example such as [name_f]Caitlin[/name_f] and [name_f]Kaitlin[/name_f], to me neither are wrong, I just prefer the “C” spelling more. [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] looks “wrong” or “misspelled” to me. I think it’s because the aeh ending is phonetically wrong. I then have to tell myself that [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] is [name_f]Heaven[/name_f] backwards. And then I’m just like well why don’t they just use [name_f]Heaven[/name_f] in the first place? That would be like spelling any word backwards and calling it a name.

[name_u]London[/name_u] = Nodnol “Nod-null”
[name_u]Sydney[/name_u] = Yendys “Yen-dis”
[name_u]Sky[/name_u] = Yks “Yiks”
[name_f]Rose[/name_f] = Esor “Es-or”

I just think taking a perfectly good name and spelling it backwards is a little bit ignorant. To each their own, but that’s just how I feel. I don’t have any hate towards [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f], I just don’t like how it looks, how it’s spelled, or the fact that it’s [name_f]Heaven[/name_f] backwards. I could care less that it’s made up and has no meaning. I think there’s way worse names out there to give a child that beats [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f].

55

I don’t think that anyone has any right to judge someone for their personal choice in naming their child. It’s obviously a very intimate process. So to call a name an abomination for example is just plain mean.
I also think that it shouldn’t really matter what class a name sounds or a child is. Why are we judging people on their perceived class? Is being lower class a crime or something?
If someone names their child Nevaeh or Niamh (I think the two are quite similar and I really dislike Niamh myself (no offence it’s just nms)) does it really matter to you? I would hate for anyone to tell me that Mallory (my favourite name) was an abomination etc and I’m aware that has a negative meaning (unlucky), whereas Nevaeh doesn’t.
Personally I think that Nevaeh isn’t so bad and I like it better than heaven. If someone was using this to honour a dead relative or something more spiritual I could really understand and back the choice. The spelling isn’t great for me true but the meaning is still sweet even if it is spelled backwards and all names start somewhere. I personally see nothing wrong with creating a name. Writers do it all the time!

56

I don’t actually have an issue with [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] as a name, other than the fact that it contradicts the ‘heavenly’ meaning within it.

[name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] = heaven backwards
Anything angelic backwards = opposite of angelic
Opposite of angelic = demonic.
Opposite of [name_f]Heaven[/name_f] = Hell.

That’s how I see it anyways, it’s contradictory of itself for me, it comes as the opposite of [name_f]Heaven[/name_f], which would be Hell. I’m not a massively religious person, but I do believe in bits of the Bible (it’s hard to explain, but I believe in the basic idea of it all, just the finer details I find questionable because really, there have been so many different variations over time, it’s a bit like the Telephone game, and it’s hard to say what really happened, in my eyes), I really just find it strange when I see it in my logic. I also would argue that it’s illegitimate because it’s a word backwards, but there are plenty of invented names that are now classed as legitimate, so it’s hard to put a definition to ‘illegitimate name’, imo.

I would like to disagree with the fact that using [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] instantly becomes ‘low class’ and an upper class woman would NEVER use [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f], because I have seen first hand that it is an untrue statement to make. The only [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] I know (who is actually a [name_f]Neveah[/name_f]) is the child of a mother with a very respectable occupation, who would be considered “higher middle class” in my area, the kind who live in elegant, sprawling homes buried in the countryside survey that has recently been built, tucked away from the ‘common folk’ and kept incredibly well maintained, well monitored, and very Stepford wife like. I’m not sure that it’s possible to lose your status of ‘upper class’ simply because of a name you have chosen? A young girl in a daycare I was previously in was named [name_u]Kenzie[/name_u], and her father was one of the top lawyers in my general region, and her mother is a paralegal at the same, well known firm. I wouldn’t class either of them to be low class, but their daughter has a name that is typically seen as such.

I find it silly to judge a person’s level of class by their name, but I don’t find it silly at all to claim that a newly invented name is illegitimate, if that makes any sense? I may have gotten off topic here though now…

57

I don’t associate the name as being lower class, and I’m going to be brutally honest here but to me it sounds stupid, because its obvious the person was trying to do by being “original” and “modern” but it’s very unoriginal. The spelling doesn’t look pretty to me either. It’s another silly trend in the books imho, even more fleeting than celebrity names.

58

I like the sound of [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f], but I don’t like the way it looks. I pronounce it Neh-vay-uh. The way my husband pronounces the lotion brand Nivea is almost the same as [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f]. I think it would look prettier spelled Nivea.

59

I personally really dislike the name, but bless you for creating this thread! There is no reason for associating a name with a class, or a class with better or worse, and doing so reveals an incredible personal bias that needs addressing. Saying that an upper class person would never name their child [name_f]Neveah[/name_f] is just incorrect. The only [name_f]Neveah[/name_f] I know lives in a ritzy neighborhood and her babysitter gets $35 dollars an hour. It’s all just personal taste!

60

All the little [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f]'s I know have questionable parents.
That’s not an opinion, it’s just a factual observation.

61

I believe that in a heartbeat!