Eva
From the Hebrew for "life", carried by the woman who gives it. It nearly vanished a decade ago, then came roaring back: more girls got it last year than in most years since 2000, though it stays rare enough that most Poles have never met one.
Eva Pronunciation
What Eva means
Where Eva comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Eva reaches back to the Hebrew name Chawwah, tied to a root that speaks of living. Translators of scripture read it as "life," and the woman it first named was called the mother of all the living. That meaning has stayed close for centuries.
In Poland the name settled into Ewa, and from that stem grew the diminutive Ewelina. A girl signing a school register as Ewa carries the same idea a girl named Eva does. The link between them is real. It rests on a shared sense of życie, dająca życie, one who gives life.
Short. Two letters do a great deal of work here.
The Polish name-day for Ewa falls on 24 December, beside Adam, so anyone bearing it shares a feast with Christmas Eve. Whatever a person makes of that pairing, the name keeps its old meaning. Eva, Ewa, Ewelina, all of them still say life.
How many people are named Eva
1 in 5997 women in Poland is named Eva. 3,759 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #545 among female names.
Eva's popularity over time
147 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #215 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2002.
Where Eva is most popular
Eva is most popular in Lubusz, 123% above the national average (32 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Masovian (+72%) and Lower Silesian (+65%). It is least common in Lublin and Warmian-Masurian, 80% and 76% below average respectively.
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Lubusz32 girls born+123%
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Masovian176 girls born+72%
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Lower Silesian75 girls born+65%
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West Pomeranian32 girls born+31%
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Greater Poland75 girls born+20%
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Łódź37 girls born+1%
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Lesser Poland55 girls born−16%
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Pomeranian36 girls born−16%
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Silesian51 girls born−23%
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Podlaskie10 girls born−47%
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Opole6 girls born−55%
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Świętokrzyskie7 girls born−56%
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Subcarpathian14 girls born−60%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian8 girls born−75%
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Warmian-Masurian5 girls born−76%
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Lublin6 girls born−80%
Eva as a middle name
Eva is a first name for 3,759 women in Poland and a middle name for another 1,171, a 76/24 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 236th, between Nela (1,177) and Roma (1,155).
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234
1,230Bianka
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235
1,177Nela
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2361,171Eva
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237
1,155Roma
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238
1,154Kamilla