Hava Tehillah – the story behind the baby name

When our first child was still a newborn, she was sleeping, and I dozed off. I heard a voice speak gently and say to me, “At this time next year you will have a child.” I woke up calmly, in a haze, and befuddled by these surprising words. I saw nobody there! Surely enough, though, when our daughter was five months old, I learned that I had become pregnant again! We had no idea if we were going to have a boy or a girl. “At that time” as the words I heard told to me, meant “in the fall.” The next fall, only fourteen months after our first child, our second was born. After she was born we named her Hava, in honor of my husband’s living mother, and my husband added the name “Tehillah” for her middle name.

Hava (also seen as Chava sometimes) means “mother of all the living.” It is the Hebrew word for Eve, the first woman. Tehilla means psalms. The psalms are the songs of contemplation and praise that King David of Israel sang to God, praising His wonders and attesting his faith in God’s goodness.

From early on, our little Hava Tehillah has always loved to sing beautiful songs.

Submitted by Lisa S.