Tears in Nevaeh

Names like Sarah and Vanessa just don't hold a candle to Nevaeh.

Published May 18, 2006 8:13PM (EDT)

Under the brilliant headline "And if It's a Boy, Will It Be Lleh?" the New York Times reports on something of a godly phenomenon. According to the paper, in 1999, "there were only eight newborn American girls named Nevaeh," but lo and behold, last year the name rose like a phoenix from the ashes to become the 70th-most-popular name for baby girls, ahead of my own all-too-common moniker, Sarah.

Navaeh (commonly pronounced nah-VAY-uh) ascended to name popularity when Christian rock star Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D. appeared on MTV in 2000 with his baby daughter Navaeh. "It's heaven spelled backward," he said. And a trend was born.

We've been wondering what other backward words make inspired baby names. Instead of leaving us to come up with our own witticisms -- one Salon staffer suggested a boy named Reeb -- please, please, would you tell us yours?


By Sarah Goldstein

Sarah Goldstein is an editorial fellow at Salon.

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