Alva

Linked to the elf element in Scandinavian names; the masculine Alvah route is separate.

Scandinavian Alva belongs to the family of names beginning Alf- or Alv-, associated with elves. It can be a feminine form of Alf or Alvar, or a shortened form of a longer name such as Alfhild. That makes the elf connection useful, while a single expanded translation such as ‘elf warrior’ would be too narrow for all its routes. The same spelling also occurs as a masculine English name, from the biblical Hebrew Alvah. This is a separate history: the Scandinavian elf explanation does not transfer to it. Alva is therefore used for more than one gender, with different traditions behind that usage. In the Swedish pronunciation, the first syllable is stressed and the l-v sequence runs smoothly into the final a. Alva can feel gentle and lightly storybook-like, with the elf association adding an imaginative note to its flowing sound.

Etymology: In Swedish, a feminine form of Alf or Alvar, or a short form of Alf-/Alv- names such as Alfhild. English masculine Alva is a variant of Hebrew Alvah.