Ewa
The meaning is plain: life, the living one. Nearly half a million Polish women carry it, and it still sits near the top of the list today, so most people know several.
Ewa Pronunciation
Ewa is pronounced E-vah (/ˈɛva/).
What Ewa means
Where Ewa comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Ewa means life, the living one. The origin given here is Slavic, and that meaning has held steady while the spelling travels. Cross a border and the name relaxes into Eva, a variant that swaps the Polish w for a v. From the same root comes Ewelina, a diminutive that long ago grew into a full name people register on its own.
In a Polish class register, Ewa tends to land near the top, four letters written without a pause. The name day falls on 24 December, shared with Adam, so the imieniny arrives on Christmas Eve.
Bearers have taken it everywhere. Ewa Demarczyk, the singer once called the black angel of Polish song, gave the name a stage. The meaning underneath stays plain: life.
When Ewa celebrates name day
Ewa appears 3 times in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 24 December.
The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
How many people are named Ewa
1 in 48 women in Poland is named Ewa. 472,970 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #13 among female names.
Ewa's popularity over time
356 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #138 among newborns. It has been falling steadily since 2000. Still the #13 name among living women, even as it slips to #138 among newborns.
Where parents choose Ewa
Ewa is most popular in Lower Silesian, 31% above the national average (312 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Masovian (+20%) and Lesser Poland (+5%). It is least common in Kuyavian-Pomeranian and Warmian-Masurian, 29% and 23% below average respectively.
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Lower Silesian
+31%1 in 504 babies
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Masovian
+20%1 in 552 babies
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Lesser Poland
+5%1 in 632 babies
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian
−29%1 in 927 babies
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Warmian-Masurian
−23%1 in 865 babies
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Łódź
−16%1 in 792 babies
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Lower Silesian+31% 312 born1 in 504 babies+31%
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Masovian+20% 642 born1 in 552 babies+20%
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Lesser Poland+5% 359 born1 in 632 babies+5%
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Opole+5% 73 born1 in 631 babies+5%
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West Pomeranian+4% 132 born1 in 640 babies+4%
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Pomeranian+3% 229 born1 in 643 babies+3%
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Podlaskie+1% 100 born1 in 658 babies+1%
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Lubusz±0% 75 born1 in 662 babies±0%
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Lublin−1% 153 born1 in 671 babies−1%
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Silesian−10% 310 born1 in 734 babies−10%
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Subcarpathian−12% 160 born1 in 754 babies−12%
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Greater Poland−13% 284 born1 in 758 babies−13%
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Holy Cross−13% 73 born1 in 759 babies−13%
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Łódź−16% 160 born1 in 792 babies−16%
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Warmian-Masurian−23% 83 born1 in 865 babies−23%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian−29% 118 born1 in 927 babies−29%
Ewa as a middle name
Ewa is a first name for 472,970 women in Poland and a middle name for another 372,483, a 56/44 split, almost evenly. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 5th, between Barbara (403,010) and Teresa (354,803).