Iwa
Slavic in origin, meaning yew, the evergreen tree. Fewer than 120 Polish women carry it, so meeting one would stay with you.
Iwa Pronunciation
Iwa is pronounced EE-vah (/ˈiva/).
What Iwa means
Where Iwa comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Iwa comes from Slavic roots, and its meaning points to a tree: the yew, cis in Polish. The name sits close to the ground of old Slavic plant words, where people named children after the growing world nearby. Yew wood is dense and slow. It outlasts the people who plant it.
The yew is one of Europe's longest-living trees. Some specimens have stood for well over a thousand years. A child called Iwa carries the short meaning "yew tree", drzewo cisowe, a plant tied to endurance in old Slavic and later European lore.
On a school register, Iwa is short and quickly written. Three letters, one syllable. The name stays rare in Poland, closer to a plant word than to a popular saint's name. Its origin is Slavic, its sense the yew.
How many people are named Iwa
1 in 194343 women in Poland is named Iwa. 116 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #3142 among female names.
Iwa's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 girls were given the name in 2025. It has been climbing since 2025.
Where Iwa is most popular
Iwa is most popular in Masovian, 510% above the national average (4 girls born 2019–2025).
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Masovian4 girls born+510%
Iwa as a middle name
Iwa is a first name for 116 women in Poland and a middle name for another 84, a 58/42 split, almost evenly. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 721st, between Sylwana (85) and Viktoriia (84).
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#719 Lia85
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#720 Sylwana85
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#721 Iwa84
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#722 Viktoriia84
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#723 Vivienne84