How to say it
ne · VAE · ah
/nəˈveɪ.ə/
Feminine
Nevaeh
Heaven spelled backward
What it means
Coined in 2000 by Sonny Sandoval (lead singer of the Christian rock band P.O.D.) by reversing the letters of 'heaven.' He named his daughter Nevaeh and shared the name on MTV's Cribs in 2000; the name surged the following year.
Nevaeh is a 21st-century American coinage: it's the word 'heaven' spelled backwards. Sonny Sandoval, lead singer of the Christian rock band P.O.D., named his daughter Nevaeh in 2000 and shared the origin story on MTV's Cribs that year. The Social Security Administration recorded a 3,000 percent jump in the name's use in 2001 alone, and Nevaeh climbed into the US top 100 by 2009. It's one of the fastest-rising given names in recorded SSA history. The name divides opinion: some hear it as a creative tribute, others as the most prominent example of the 21st-century 'name as wordplay' trend. Common short: Nev or Nev-ay.
Popularity over time
peaked at #25 in 2010, currently #165 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Pop culture
Sonny Sandoval (P.O.D.) coined the name in 2000 and went on Cribs that year; the SSA recorded a 3,000 percent jump in 2001 directly attributable to that one TV moment.
- Pronunciation
nuh-VAY-uh, three syllables. The 'ae' in the middle is one vowel sound (long A), not two.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Nevaeh Sandoval Daughter of P.O.D. frontman Sonny Sandoval, born 2000; the original of the modern coinage
Spelling variants
- Neveah
- Nevaeha
Names with the same feeling
See Nevaeh from another angle
By meaning