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I prefer AY-vuh because that's the pronunciation I was first exposed to (old TV sitcom). I think she'd have to correct somewhat, but people would get it. The people who mattered would get it faster than others, in my experience. My Anna pronounces her name as AHN-nuh and believe it or not, the pronunciation hasn't been much of an issue. BTW, her kindergarten teacher changed the original pronunciation and it stuck from that moment onward.

I have heard Americans pronounce it both Eh-vuh and Ee-vuh.

Always EE-va with me,though I'm Canadian.

I can only speak for myself as an American, but I pronounce it AY-va, not EE-va.

Where I live (California) "Eva" would likely be pronounced EE-va. And it would be a constant annoyance. In fact, she might occasionally be told that she is pronouncing her own name wrong.

This message was edited 7/26/2016, 2:21 AM

I say EE-va for Eva and Eh-va for Ava.

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But I am aware that Eva can be pronounced Eh-va so I wouldn't need to be reminded. But there are people who would definitely mess up the name no matter how many times you tell them. (But that could go for a lot of names, even ones commonly used in America - like calling someone Kristin instead of Christine or Corine instead of Corinne).

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I'd still use it.

My response might not be typical, but I grew up in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood; EH-vuh is my intuitive pronunciation of Eva. Or AY-vuh, considering my natural accent.

I'd say EH-va automatically (and then I'd go, wait... is it EE-va?)
It would take one instruction for me to learn it. It's not difficult at all.
I learned Leah pronounced "LAY-a" in one go, no problem.
I guess I should mention that Leah complained that people who she already taught her name to, still called her LEE-a sometimes.

This message was edited 7/25/2016, 8:20 PM

More than likely it would always be a long E sound. You almost never hear it pronounced any other way, even by people named Eva. You'd have to be willing to accept that because like every other country, we have our own way of pronunciation and you're not going to change that. It doesn't mean that it's wrong, just different.

"Would an American named Eva always be called EE-va?"

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Not necessarily, but it really depends on where you are. I live in an area with a lot Hispanic and Brazilian speaking people, so a girl named Eva pronounced AY-va wouldn't be so strange. However, I think that there would be a lot of correcting people on the pronunciation, as most people will assume it to be pronounced EE-va unless told otherwise.

Ee-va is acceptable but my default pronunciation is Ay-va.

I only knew one person who pronounced it AY-va. People in class would still say EE-va even though she said it was AY-va multiple times (and this was a linguistics course!). Idk, I guess it's just not intuitive to American-English speakers, especially with Ava being so popular in younger generations.

Well, in a place where most people know Eva as Eeva, and where there isn't much of a Spanish-speaking population, that pronunciation would likely seem like an affectation, and if you really want that sound you'd be better off using Ava. Skip the messy middle step.
However, apparently back in the sixties, people did know that Eva Gabor's name was pronounced like Ava.

Hi !!!!

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I'm Italian so I pronounce it like in Spanish but with a stronger V than in Spanish. XD

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Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I grew up in NY and we pronounce it both ways. In fact, I have even read the name and asked first "Is it Ee-va or Ay-va?"

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I think it is a one-time correction.