Vada is a short name of uncertain origin, usually explained either as a short form of Nevada, the state name that comes from Spanish and means "snow-covered", or as a spelling of Veda, the Sanskrit word for "knowledge". Many Americans know it from Vada Sultenfuss, the heroine of the 1991 film My Girl. Vada re-entered the top 1000 in 2016, peaked at number 813 in 2020 and ranks 886th in 2025.