Spell heaven backwards and what do you get? The 70th most popular name for American baby girls.
Nevaeh, usually pronounced nuh-VAY-uh, cracked the top 100 names for newborn baby girls for the first time in 2005, with 4,457, according to the New York Times.
It is the fastest-rising name since the Social Security Administration began keeping such records more than a century ago. In 1999, only eight newborn girls were named Nevaeh.
The Times reports that the name, which holds no biblical significance, is popular among African-Americans and evangelical Christians. Nevaeh was more popular last year than names like Amanda, Sara and Vanessa.
The major reason for the surge in Nevaeh is MTV. Christian rocker Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D. mentioned his new baby daughter Nevaeh on the network in 2000. That year, there were 86 Nevaehs. The next year the number shot up to 1,191.