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I wouldn't blink at a name with an accent in it (I'll probably use one myself), but if I lived in an area where nobody understands what accents do, I'd go with Ava because accent misuse is hugely irritating/ borderline infuriating to me. I think people will have a hard time knowing Eva is "eh-va" and not "ee-va" if you live in an English-only area.
I don't think accents make a name charming (or not), imo, accents are not not decorations (I'm not saying you think they are, I'm just in a touchy language mood right now and there are a lot of people who think that accents don't have a function, that they're all the same, and that one can add them in anywhere you want *grumble*). And I do think Éva is quite pretty, but I'd stay far away from accents in an English-only area because I'd be waiting for the day when someone spells it Êva or Èva or Evá or something because they know there's an accent somewhere.

I wouldn't take one spelling and use a different prn for it. To me, Eva and Ava are two really different names (but I am European), but in the US things like this might now matter? Or in Canada/Austraia or wherever you are :)

Personally,I think if you are going to call her Ava then just spell it Ava. Different spellings don't make a name anymore unique. It just means you have to spell it out for everyone. In the end she is still called Ava amd Ava is still common, you wouldn't have made it any less so. Plus people will call her Eva, because that's how it looks, and you'll forever be correcting everyone.

To be honest, I think the best thing is just to spell it Ava considering that Eva and Ava are both pretty common names.

The name sounds very pretty - good choice. I don't see how it makes any sense at all to spell it Eva as nobody will pronounce that Ava - and legitimately so. With the accent could work. And if exotic is what you are going for, it certainly is more exotic than Ava. And if you are naming her after someone else who also spelled it that way, then by all means use the accent.

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All that said, I don't think that the alternative spellings will really set her apart from other Ava's as the pronunciation is the same and do you really want her to be "Eva with an E" as a distinction? But you seem to be aware that you are choosing a very popular name, so as long as you are okay with that.

No, it's not awful, it's fine if you're totally comfy with it. I wouldn't be, myself, because I only speak English and I'd feel silly, especially if anyone asked me what heritage it is from and I was like, uh, I dunno, it's legit somewhere though, I looked it up on the net... It's not "charming" to me, either - it's as you say, like Ava with an attempt made to set it apart from all the other Avas or seem "exotic." But it's pretty, not too complicating or distracting even for me. ;-) It's not "too exotic," so to speak.

This message was edited 9/28/2010, 6:36 PM

Éva is so pretty and would be more unique.

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I also really like the spelling Eva, so in my book you can't lose by spelling it with an E.