How can we help?

Ava shows you one name at a time. Swipe up for the next. Each name gets a card of its own with how to say it, what it means and where it comes from. Tap Details for its story.

The first time you open Ava, a few friendly questions shape the order of your feed: who you’re naming, the style you like and any origins you’d love to honor. Change your answers any time in Settings › Your answers. To open Settings, tap More (…) in the toolbar, then Settings.

Tap the pronunciation on the name card (like ee-SEL, with a speaker icon) to hear it said out loud. Ava uses your iPhone’s built-in voices and picks one for the name’s language when it can. If a voice ever sounds off, the written pronunciation is the one to trust.

Tap the heart on the name card, or double-tap the name. It goes to Saved names, in the toolbar. Tap the heart again to remove it, or swipe left on it in Saved names.

Yes. Tap More (…) in the toolbar, or press and hold the name card, then choose Not for us. It won’t come up in your feed again. Bring hidden names back any time in Settings › Names › Hidden names.

Tap Share on any name. Ava turns it into a card with its meaning and a soft color dot for girl, boy or either, with a message ready to go: “What do you think of Izel for our baby?”

Choose Chat (4:5) for Messages and WhatsApp, or Story (9:16) for Instagram and TikTok stories. Choose a ready-made message or write your own, pick a card style and Paper or Charcoal, then tap Share. You can also copy the message or save the image.

Yes. Once two or more names are showing in Saved names, tap Share our shortlist. Ava turns them into one card, and with three or more you can choose a Top three card instead.

Tap Search in the toolbar to look up a name, a meaning or an origin (try “light”). Tap Explore, beside it, to browse every origin, or a collection like Nature or Short & sweet. On a smaller screen with larger text, they’re under More (…).

In your feed, the Filters button in the toolbar narrows names by gender and origins. Vibe, popularity, first letter and length filters come with Ava Plus.

Tell us what you were doing, what you expected and what happened instead. Your Ava version (it’s at the bottom of Settings) and your iOS version help us find it quickly. A screenshot is welcome if it shows nothing private. Never send payment details.

In Ava, Settings › Support › Contact us starts an email with both versions already filled in.

Email us at [email protected].

No. Ava has no accounts and no sign-in. Open it and start meeting names.

On your iPhone. Your saved names, hidden names, the names you’ve seen and your answers from setup are saved on this phone, and Ava doesn’t upload your shortlist anywhere.

If usage analytics are on, Ava counts moments like “a name was hearted”, with that name’s id. See “What does Ava measure?” below.

Not automatically. Saved names stay on the phone you saved them on, because there’s no account to sync them. To bring your partner in, share a name or your whole shortlist as a card.

Deleting Ava erases everything it saved on this iPhone: your saved names, hidden names and answers. We don’t have a copy to bring back, so share your shortlist first if you’d like to keep it.

Deleting the app doesn’t cancel an Ava Plus subscription.

Yes. Settings › Erase my data removes your saved names and answers from this phone and takes you back to the welcome screen. Ava Plus stays with your Apple Account.

To meet the names you’ve already seen again but keep your saved names, use Settings › Names › Start fresh.

The last name you add in setup or Settings › Your answers is used on your phone. It leaves only when you choose to include it in a shared card or message. Usage analytics can note that you added one, never the name itself.

Only if you agree during setup or in Settings › Preferences › Share usage analytics, Ava sends pseudonymous usage events to Mixpanel, such as “a name was hearted” or “a name was shared”, under a random ID made on your phone. They’re never used for ads or for tracking you across apps.

The privacy policy has every detail.

Unlimited names every day, every collection (like Rising, On screen and Bridge names) and every filter: vibe, popularity, first letter and length.

Without it, Ava is still free to use, with new names every day, saved names, sharing, search and every origin.

Ava Plus is offered as a subscription or as a one-time lifetime purchase. The plans, prices and any free trial are shown in Ava before you buy, and again on Apple’s confirmation screen.

If your plan includes a free trial, Ava shows the day it ends before you start, and can remind you before then. Cancel at least 24 hours before the trial ends and you won’t be charged.

If the plan shown in Ava includes Family Sharing, you can share it with your Family Sharing group. Check the plan details before purchasing.

If Ava Plus doesn’t show up on the other iPhone, open Settings in Ava there and tap Restore purchases.

In Ava, open Settings (More … › Settings) and tap Restore purchases under Support. Use the same Apple Account that made the purchase.

In Ava, open Settings and tap Manage subscription on the Ava Plus card at the top (during a free trial it says Manage or cancel). Or, on your iPhone, open Settings, tap your name, then Subscriptions. Deleting Ava doesn’t cancel a subscription.

Apple’s guide to subscriptions

Purchases are billed by Apple, so refunds are handled by Apple too. Request one through Apple’s refund service, and Apple decides whether it’s eligible.

Apple’s guide to refunds

In Ava, open Settings and tap Redeem a code under Support.

Ava draws on naming references and published records for meanings, origins and stories. Sources can disagree, and some histories are uncertain. These entries are a starting point for exploring a name, and we keep refining them as we learn.

Names travel. The same name can grow up in different languages and mean something different in each, and sources don’t always agree. Where a name has roots in more than one culture, Ava shows what it means in each. Where an origin is uncertain, we say so rather than guess.

A name with roots in more than one culture, like Maya (Sanskrit and Greek) or Kai (Hawaiian, Japanese and Chinese). They’re lovely for families who want a name that works in both of their languages.

Look for the Bridge name label on a name’s card or in its Details, or pick two origins in the filters to find names that bridge both.

Thank you. Tell us the name and what looks wrong, and we’ll take a look. In Ava, Settings › Support › Send feedback sends us a note with your app version. It doesn’t include your saved names or a reply address, so if you’d like an answer, contact us as well.

Email us at [email protected].

Ava updates its name collection from time to time and fetches new names on its own. To check right away, open Settings › Names › Check for new names.

Only the ones you turn on. A name each day arrives at the time you choose, matched to your answers. Occasional reminders, off unless you choose them, send up to three nudges in your first week: to finish setup, revisit names or explore Ava Plus. They stop once you have Ava Plus. If you start a free trial, Ava can also remind you before it ends.

All of them are scheduled on your iPhone, and each one is your choice.

Open Ava’s Settings › Notifications. Switch Send me a name or Occasional reminders on or off, and use Arrives at to choose any hour from 6 AM to 9 PM.

Check that notifications are allowed for Ava in your iPhone’s Settings › Notifications › Ava. When they’re off, Ava’s Settings shows a shortcut there. Focus modes and Scheduled Summary can also hold notifications back.

The website is a place to browse the names in Ava’s collection and hear how they’re said. Anything you heart or type here stays in your browser and doesn’t sync with the app.

Ava Plus is only available in the app. The website doesn’t sell anything or take payments.

Only where you send it. A last name or a message you type on this site stays in your browser’s memory. It’s never added to the page address, saved or sent to us, and it leaves your browser only if you share or copy it yourself.

Name searches are different: they’re part of the page address (?q=), so they can appear in your browser history and in hosting logs.

The listen button uses your browser’s built-in speech feature. Some browsers don’t offer it, and voices vary between devices. When it isn’t available, you’ll see the written pronunciation instead.