Avayah is a modern American elaboration of Ava, a name of uncertain origin that is usually explained as a medieval form of Eve, "life", or linked to the Latin avis, "bird". The added -yah ending echoes names like Aaliyah and Nevaeh. In the United States Avayah leapt from number 2435 in 2019 to number 936 in 2020, peaked at number 855 in 2021 and has slipped back out of the top 1000 to number 1407 in 2025.