One namesake is Neva Small, the actress and singer known for playing Chava in the Fiddler on the Roof film, among many other roles. She has a beautiful voice :)
Neva Edwards is an Dominican educator, lay preacher and former civil servant. She served as Speaker of the House of Assembly of Dominica from 1993 to 1995.
Neva Martin Abelson (1910 – 2000) was an American research physician. She was a distinguished research physician who co-discovered the life-saving blood test for the Rh blood factor (with Louis K. Diamond). Abelson graduated from Washington State University with a B.S. degree in chemistry. She became one of the first women to graduate from Johns Hopkins University with a medical degree. After medical school she became a pediatrician. She was the first pediatrician to ever be placed in charge of Johns Hopkins nurseries.
My mother's name was Neva, the only person I ever knew with that name. She was born in 1929. I have found the name was popular in the early 1900's until it seemed to phase out in the early 1960's. Nice to see there are other Neva's on here.
I'm Neva...Neva Dull...i own copyright of my name because I am kinda the only Neva Dull ever..the pun never a dull moment..is literally my own personal experience...haha...I never wanted to meet another Neva...because I wanted to be the only one...which I have been trying to make sure of...no problem if I was literally the person given the acknowledgments for the name being given to another but I was horribly teased and made fun of all my life and even not given jobs for this not sounding like a real name...I have a huge claim of this name as well as my full name and not saying this for any other reason but that I am proud of this name and want to know about the other Nevas...but like the leader of them.. Haha uhhh.
In 2018, 79 is the most common age for an American (U.S.) Neva who is registered female with the Social Security Administration. It is the 2, 012th most common female first name for living U.S. citizens.
Neva is an old Slavic name. I am from Slovenia, and as mentioned, the closest illustration of the name's pronunciation in my country to an English-speaking person could be provided by "Neh-vah", as in a slang word for "never". But in reality, the word is pronounced slightly differently than "Neva" (for never); you have to accentuate the first part of the word ("Neh") and "eh" in "Neh" is pronounced narrowly, rather than widely (as it is in "Neva" for never). The name is not perceived as unusual, but it is true that it is not so common. Far more popular is the name Eva, for example (again, pronounced similarly to "Eh-vah").
― Anonymous User 6/10/2017
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I named one of my pets this because she had problems with her nervous system several years ago. I thought I created the name and pronounced it nee-va and use it as my own name quite often, but a year ago I found out it was also the name of a Russian river.
― Anonymous User 1/22/2017
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My name is Neva Ann, I was named after my grandmother, Neva Geraldene. I have never met another Neva, (ever)! I never knew my grandmother, or really any of my family period. My guess is that my grandmother was born the 1920's as well... however, I was born in the 70's and always wondered why my mother gave me this name... as I get older, I appreciate the uniqueness of my name.
My mother, born in 1924 in Texas, is named Neva. Pronounced like knee-vah. She says when she was in college in the 40's there were several Nevas around. The story of her name is that her mother (my Grandmother) read a novel where the heroine was named Neva. I wonder in the Nevas born in the 1920s, were all named after that novel? I wish I knew the name of the book. Apparently, there is a young adult dystopian novel by Sarah Grant with the main character named Neva.
I'm a Neva - named after my grandmother and it is pronounced Knee-vuh. By the way, there was an American actress Neva Patterson, who was in quite a few movies... from An Affair to Remember and the Seven Year Itch all the way to All the President's Men and All of Me.
My grandmother's name is Nevonne but she has always gone by Neva (Nee-Vah). She was born in 1924. I have always loved her name and haven't met anyone else who has her name. So unique!
My name is Neva, pronounced Nee-vah! As a child, it was frustrating not being able to find the cutesy name things like keychains, badges, stationery, anything with my name on it. What that did was force me to create my own personalized items; which created the person I am today. My name is not short for anything; just Neva. I was named Neva after my momma lost a bet with her cousin, whose name is also Neva. Growing up, she was Big Neva and I was Little Neva.
If I knew someone with this name I would probably think of them as someone who doesn't like being told what to do. Sounds like a ghetto version of "never", like "nevah". It comes from the name Geneva so I guess it would sound like "knee-vah" but it just doesn't make sense.
― Anonymous User 3/3/2014
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I was named after my mother who was born in 1926 but orphaned at a young age so she never knew where they got the name from. She was from a small town in south Georgia. I did not like the name when I was young because you could never find your name on any souvenir. Now I love it because it is so unusual and I get compliments on all the time. Also people are less likely to forget your name.
― Anonymous User 2/7/2014
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Terrible name. It sounds like how Australians say 'never'.
― Anonymous User 10/18/2013
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The name Neva was given to 83 baby girls born in the US in 2012.
'Neva' simply does not sound like a real name. It sounds like the name of a river, certainly. But it does not sound like a real person's name. A far more likable and traditional alternative would be 'Niamh'.
Which British accent are you referring too? I'm Scottish but sound totally different to someone from Wales. I'd pronounce Neva like Knee-va and Never like Niver. Those in England and Wales shall pronounce both of these differently to me.
To me, this looks like someone saying "never" with a "street" accent.
― Anonymous User 5/11/2009
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I like the sound and look of this name, and it reminds me of science fiction character names for some reason. I guess it's the vowel-consonant-vowel-consonant thing, and the letter "v", neither of which appear too often in English names.
I like the sound of this name. It sounds esthetic, sophisticated, classy, yet nicely simple. It's uncommon nowadays, and it's quite surprising people haven't rediscovered the name since the tacky Nevaeh has become so popular.
I was named Neva. I admit it's a hard name to bear. Lol. Usually it is mispronounced and mistaken for Nevada or Geneva. Also, slang for never. I was named after my grandmother, and always wished for a popular name like Kelly or Amber. But now I am proud to have a unusual name. Rarely do I meet anyone else with it, and if I do, they are usually elderly women. It's interesting to have this name.
There is a character in D. J. MacHale's Pendragon series with this name. Only she spells it Nevva. Double v.
― Anonymous User 1/24/2008
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Neva means one kind of swamp in Finnish (in our language there are ~5 words for different kinds of swamps). It's not usually a name in Finland, but I have a friend whose sister is named Neva. I think it's a beautiful name.
Neva Dinova is my favorite band. I had heard Jake Bellows named the band after his grandmother, and I was thinking, "Neva is a name? What?" Then I grew to really love it as I heard more about people with this name. It sounds so pretty and unique even though it was more common in the past. I think there was a character on Murder in Small Town X named Neva, as well.
I have to agree, Neva is Spanish and it's a form of "Nieves" or "Nevada".
― Anonymous User 1/14/2007
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I have a friend named Neva. She is a very pretty, kind, and talented. I find it to be a very unique and beautiful name. It sounds appropriate at any age, too. The only problem with this name is its pronunciation. It confuses a lot of people. But that shouldn't be enough to deter one from bestowing this name on their daughter. It's lovely and I heartily recommend it!
I worked with a lady named Neva and she pronounced it Nee-vah. She was short and dumpy about 45, but nice.
― Anonymous User 11/26/2005
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My grandma was born in 1924 in a tiny Kentucky town. I never knew how she got her name, only that it was very unusual and I'd never known any one else with her name. I sometimes wondered if she was named after the Russian river. After viewing this site, I've learned this name was much more common during the time she was born.