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Alva

Girl name · 14 babies recorded · 1974–2025

Alva: 14 babies born in Scotland since 1974, given to girls, peaking at 4 births in 2022.

Of Old Norse origin, Alva is the modern feminine form of the masculine *Alfr*, meaning “elf” or “supernatural being,” carrying a gentle, magical quality. The most famous bearer is the Scottish inventor and industrialist Alva (1847–1914), whose middle name was officially “Alva” as a family surname, though you may also think of the American inventor Thomas Alva Edison. In place names, Alva is a small town in Clackmannanshire, Scotland, whose name shares a similar root of “elf” in Old English. As a further note, Alva is also a Swedish surname, and in recent decades it has seen a charming revival as a given name for girls, thanks in part to its soft sound and kinship with the more common Oliva.