girl's name
Nevaeh
nuh-VAY-uh
- Origin American coinage
- Gender Girl
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 113,285
the United States
#165
2025 births
Nevaeh is a girl's name coined in the United States, and it is "heaven" spelled backwards. Unlike almost every other name in common use, its origin is recent enough to be dated: it barely existed before 2000 and was in the top 300 within two years.
- Nevaeh is a name of American coinage origin.
- Peaked in 2007, when 6,856 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 1,814 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1997.
Nevaeh over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1990s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1990s | 18 |
| 2000s | 38,374 |
| 2010s | 45,124 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 15,408 |
What Nevaeh means
Nevaeh means heaven, reversed. It is not a translation from another language and has no older root — the meaning is simply the English word read from right to left, which is why every source agrees on it even though the name is only decades old.
Where Nevaeh comes from
Nevaeh is one of the very few names whose creation can be pinned to a moment. It is the English word heaven written backwards, and the widely reported account credits its spread to the musician Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D., who appeared on MTV around 2000 with his infant daughter and explained the name. The United States birth records corroborate the timing precisely: five babies were given the name in 1997, ninety-nine in 2000, and one thousand one hundred and ninety-nine in 2001 — a twelvefold jump in a single year. It peaked in 2007 at 6,446 births and has declined since. Reversed spellings had been used occasionally before, but no other has entered the mainstream this way.
Nevaeh in use
Nevaeh is unusual in having a datable origin. Most names arrive gradually over centuries; the birth records show this one arriving in the space of about twelve months.
How popular is Nevaeh?
In 2025, Nevaeh was given to 1,828 babies in the United States, ranking #165 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Nevaeh is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Nevaeh
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Nevaeh also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Nevaeh over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
3 nicknames for Nevaeh
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Nevaeh in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Nevaeh
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Nevaeh — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Nevaeh
What does the name Nevaeh mean?
Nevaeh is "heaven" spelled backwards. That is the whole of its meaning — it has no older root in any other language.
Who came up with the name Nevaeh?
Its spread is widely credited to the musician Sonny Sandoval, who discussed his daughter's name on MTV around 2000. Birth records show the name jumping from 99 uses in 2000 to 1,199 in 2001.
How do you pronounce Nevaeh?
Most commonly nuh-VAY-uh, though nuh-VYE-uh is also heard.
How popular is the name Nevaeh?
In 2025, Nevaeh was given to 1,828 babies in the United States, ranking #165 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Nevaeh a girl's or a boy's name?
Nevaeh is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
When was Nevaeh most popular?
Nevaeh peaked in 2007, when 6,856 babies were given the name. It has been falling over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Nevaeh?
Nevaeh is usually shortened to Nev, Neva and Neve.
Is Nevaeh a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Nevaeh currently ranks #118 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.