M. writes:
Hello!
I just have to say that I LOVE reading your blog. I tend to have a very classic but not super common naming style, and I love reading the wide variety of options on your blog!
I am not currently pregnant (and no plans any time soon), but I have a HUGE name obsession. To the point where I routinely find a name I like and text it to all of my friends, thereafter googling and scanning for possible nicknames (to me, nicknames are HUGE).
I could write you a dozen different e-mails about so many names that I love and combinations I like…but I’m writing because I have one specific name in mind that I am obsessed with…but can find very little about online. Not to mention, I have a nickname in mind that I need a little clarity with.
Some back story: my boyfriend and I used to be in a long-distance relationship. It was generally a 7 road trip to visit each other a few times a month. One such route between our homes often took me past a sign for a town called Avoca.
Avoca is an Irish name, and a common one for “places.” Not to mention, I’ve seen Avoca cookbooks, Avoca blankets, and so forth. It is NOT as common for a little girl’s name. But I just love it. I am Irish, and seeing it in print reminds me of all of those trips my boyfriend and I made to see each other!
I think it is absolutely an adorable name for a little girl, and something that also solves a conundrum I’ve had for awhile: Namely, I have loved the name Ava since I was a little girl. But it is now SO popular, I would never consider that to be my (future, some day) child’s full name. Also, I am obsessed with nicknames and there is no strong contender from the name Ava (and yes, names without a decent nickname are a deal breaker for me).
However, Avoca…pronounced Ah-VOH-ka…could provide me with the missing link.
Now for question time:
a) is this unusual name “right” for a little girl? Does it sound too much like Avocado?
a1) Is it SO unusual that people would hate it (I don’t generally care about what other people think, but I myself hate when people get too “out there” with names: this is something your child must live with FOREVER! Not you: THEM!).b) Does the fact that Avoca starts with an AH sound as opposed to Ava’s AY sound make the two NOT sync up enough for a nickname cross over?
b1) If so, what other nickname suggestions are there?
b2) Would pronouncing it Ay-VOH-ka help?Thank you so much for your help!
I hadn’t immediately noticed the avocado connection. My first association was with vocations and Latin and church and Ave Maria: it looks to me like it could be the name of a song or blessing to begin the church service. But once you mentioned avocados, I’m afraid I kept seeing it.
Furthermore, when I first saw the name and was guessing at its pronunciation before getting to that part of the email, I pronounced it correctly—though I would have said it aloud with a question mark at the end, not certain I had it right. But as soon as I saw the avocado connection, it threw off my pronunciation and I had to stop and think each time to keep from saying it with the avocado emphasis.
As to whether it’s too unusual, it’s beyond the point where I would use the word “unusual”: it is in fact currently unused in the United States. But it has many name-like qualities: it begins with the currently stylish Av- sound (Ava, Avery), and it ends with an -a as many girl names do. In the middle is the long-O sound, which is also currently in style (Olivia, Sophia, Zoe, Chloe, Noah, Logan, Owen). Those three things combined make it seem unusual to me, but not TOO unusual—especially since you have a story for the origin of the name. Instead it sounds to me like a name from another language that I just haven’t heard before.
Ava does not seem like a natural nickname for it, however. The only sound in common is the V: AY-vuh and ah-VOH have nothing else in common, not even emphasis. I also think calling her Ava would throw off the pronunciation of the full name: if I knew the nickname was Ava, I’d think Avoca must be pronounced more like AY-vock-uh or ay-VOCK-uh.
But no, I wouldn’t change the pronunciation. It’s more confusing, and it seems odd to change the sentimental town name’s pronunciation, and it also feels like a reach: lots of people wish the name Ava weren’t so popular, but it just IS that popular, and forcing a connection to a less-popular name doesn’t make the name Ava any less common—it just makes it feel as if the parents thought it did.
The final blow is that Ava doesn’t seem like a nickname name; it seems like a stand-alone name. If I hear of a girl named Annie, or Evie, or Lucy, I might wonder if it could be a nickname; if I hear Anna, or Eva, or Luca, I first assume it’s the full name. Certainly some nicknames DO end in -a and ARE also stand-alone names (an Annabel could certain go by Anna or an Emmaline could go by Emma, and there’s Eleanor/Nora and Margaret/Greta and Isabella/Bella), but it’s not as familiar a format in the United States: nicknames for girls have more often ended in the -ie sound, or have been a syllable of the full name with or without the -ie sound (Abby for Abigail, not Abba; Susie or Sue for Susan, not Susa; Becky for Rebekah, not Reba; Mandy for Amanda, not Ama). When an -a is used, it seems to come more often from the end of the name: Manda for Amanda, Bekah for Rebeckah, Nora for Eleanor. It might still work fine if Ava were known as a nickname the way Bella and Nora and Greta are, or if Ava were known to be related to the name Avoca: traditional usage covers a multitude of inconsistencies. But by using a unique name, and then wanting as a nickname an unrelated and very common stand-alone name in a non-typical nickname format, I feel like we’re exceeding the Stretch Limit.
Although, wait. Something else occurs to me. I originally started this paragraph by saying, “However, this doesn’t mean I think you CAN’T do it: if I encountered an actual Avoca going by Ava, I might initially think ‘exceeds the Stretch Limit’ and then I wouldn’t give it any thought after that, and in fact might not even remember I’d ever even thought of it as a stretch”—but as I wrote that out, I realized the situation was better than that. Because what I might actually assume is that the parents wanted to use the very unusual town name as a sentimental name, and then they wanted to give her a more familiar name for everyday use. Yes, I think that’s what I might very well think—and what I might very well SAY, if I were the parent. And when I spin it that way, it completely undoes the Stretch Limit effect—as well as making the name Avoca feel even more usable. (Although it would be better still if it were a town you’d met your boyfriend in or visited your boyfriend in, rather than a town name you drove past on the road.)
I am not succeeding in coming up with alternate nicknames. Sometimes something will occur to me if I say the name again and again, but I’m not coming up with anything that seems viable. Vo, Vokie, Avvie—actually, I think I’d go with Avvie. It’s so similar to Abby, just a V-sound instead of a B-sound, and it feels like the nickname that would happen naturally if you didn’t try to come up with one.
One final concern is that you say you have a very classic naming style. Will you be able to think of sibling names you like with the name Avoca?
If Ava is more your style, and the only reasons you wouldn’t use it are its popularity and its lack of a nickname, I might suggest a double first name such as Ava Louise, with a nickname like Ava-Lou.
Let’s have a poll to see what everyone else thinks of the name Avoca:
When I first saw this post title I thought “That’s a town!” And yes, that’s where you found it. I think it would be a sweet story to tell a future child; however, I would not use the nn Ava with it because the sounds don’t align. Nor would I change the pronunciation because the alternates would require lots of corrections and unless you are really far removed from the area, you might randomly run in to people who know the “correct” pronunciation. I think Avoca is a name without a ready nickname. Since you want a name with a good nickname and you said your style is classic but uncommon, maybe Avoca is a better middle name candidate? Avoca does not seem to fit in the same classic (used to be uncommon) category Ava is in.
Unfortunately, my very first (and admittedly uncharitable) thought when reading just the title of this post was, “Avoca? Is her middle name Doe?” So I make a STRONG association with avocado. That being said, I think it’s easily explained away by 1. it being a name from a different culture and 2. being the name of a town. Plus, it’s not like people don’t use noun names all the time and there’s nothing intrinsically “wrong” with an avocado, anymore than there’s something “wrong” with a rose or a pearl or a forest. In fact, I happen to love avocados and think they can be very pretty. So. Not a bad association at all.
On the nickname, I think you can probably get away with it without too many raised eyebrows–for all the reasons that Swistle mentioned. However, I always pronounce Ava as AH-vah the first time. I can quickly adapt, but that’s just my predisposition. And I think that pronunciation matches the pronunciation of Avoca a little better. Then again, AH-vah is basically a different name than AY-vah and you wouldn’t get the name you like. So. Not all that helpful. But if I saw your child’s name and nickname written out, I would probably pronounce it AH-vah first, so you might be correcting people no matter what. If that doesn’t bother you, then I say go for it. I like the close personal association you have to it as well–that covers a multitude of otherwise eyebrow-raise-y situations.
I actually read the name as A-vuh-ka. (Sort of like Erica.) I thought that sounded nice, though the look wasn’t as appealling. But when you said it was ah-VOH-ka, I have to say I was disappointed. It seems too harsh to me. Of course, it is meaningful to you, so that carries a lot of weight. But if I were in your shoes and I still wanted to use it, I would probably make it the middle name. I love Swistle’s suggestions of Ava Louise/Ava-Lou a lot.
I too thought it should be pronounced Ah-vuh-ka, and I hate to say it but I prefer that pronunciation to the proper one! Av-oh-ka immediately brings to mind words like Tahoka, Tacoma, evoke, at worst yokel. Ah-vuh-ka seems more believably “namey”. It sounds like a relative of Habakuk or Amica. It also bring to mind an abacus (not a negative association, more a “knowledge/reason” association which I like). If you were open to changing the pronunciation at all, I would change it to Ah-vuh-ka, nickname Avvie.
I think I have a weird brain, but another thing that makes the correct pronunciation unusable is that it sounds like a spell from Harry Potter. “Avoka!” sounds perfectly at home with “Accio!” and “Expecto patronum!”
Whoops, apologies for the misspelling of Avoca, I think I got used to typing K’s!
I also read and preferred A-vuh-ca, stressed like Erica. In which case, Vicky works as a nickname. Open to a spelling and pronunciation change?
Avica nn Vicky.
I also agree with the above and prefer the pronounciation of AY-VUH-KA. I find that ah-VOH-ka reminds me too much of avocado mixed with vodka. Plus, if you go with Ay-vuh-ka, that fits nicely with the nn Ava which I think is darling. A cute little story about where her name came from with a common nickname. I don’t think it is too far out there, especially since you have a go-to nickname. I also like Swistle’s suggestion of Avvie, if you choose to go with a different or alternate nn. Also, give her a couple options when she’s older to go by what she chooses.
If you do choose to go with the original pronounciation, then I still think Ava is ok nickname even though the beginning sounds don’t tie in together.
Is this referring to Avoca, Iowa? If so, what a small world. I’m not a fan of the name, but that’s because my car broke down on I-80 in a snowstorm and I had to walk to a convenience store in Avoca that had the grossest bathroom I’ve ever seen. ;)
I immediately thought of avocado, but I love avocados, so that was not a negative association for me :) If I met someone with that name I would probably assume it was a name from another culture or country. Not like “a name with Irish roots” but more “the name of a person not from the US”. That may or may not matter to you. While I think Avoca could work, ultimately for me it does not pass the “Would I want it as my own first name?” test.
I think the name is OK. I don’t love it, but I wouldn’t hate it if I heard it for a child.
I don’t think Ava works at all as a NN. Also, I don’t understand why you would choose a nickname that is popular if your goal is to avoid a popular name. Having it as a nickname won’t make your child’s experience much different in school and work than if you just named her Ava from the get go. In fact it might make things more complicated for her. If she goes into preschool and there are two other Ava’s, will the fact her name is short for something make it any easier to be the third Ava?
Of course if your not pregnant,. and not planning a pregnancy, Ava might not be all that popular by the time you have a baby.
When I saw the name, I thought of the correct pronunciation. I don’t think that will be an issue. What about nn Avie or Vokie? Especially if you want it to be rare?
I also immediately thought of avocados, although that’s not necessarily a bad association. Kind of a specific one, though, and somewhat likely to be the source of a bit of dumb playground teasing. I did initially pronounce it in my head the way you are proposing pronouncing it.
For me, I don’t know that the “name story” negates some of the drawbacks Swistle outlined above. (Have you ever spent any time in that particular town? Maybe it’s actually a totally depressing place.) I think Avoca might work better as a middle name than a first name, maybe. It’s less of a burden to have a name that requires pronunciation/spelling help and a complicated explanatory backstory in the middle spot.
If you love Ava, I think you should just name your (future) baby Ava. It’s popular but not overwhelmingly so, and popular names today don’t reach the overwhelming “Jennifer-ness” of thirty years ago. It seems silly to not use a name you love just because of the possibility that she might be called Ava LastInitial for a few years in elementary school.
I’m also the kind of person who hates it when people get too out there with names, for their child’s sake, but as I happen to have driven past Avoca, IA many times myself, it seems a perfectly acceptable name. I don’t know how I’d feel if I wasn’t familiar with it (or if I was overly familiar with it, as in if I grew up there!), but it sounds very name-ish to me regardless, for the reasons Swistle listed.
I assume if you happen to live close-ish (though probably not too close) to the town people may have a more generally positive view of the name just from familiarity than if it was a completely foreign word. Plus, they’ll know how to pronounce it. It’s not likely your child always will, though, because all I could find when I googled was the Avoca in Iowa and one in Arkansas.
I personally don’t find Ava a stretch as a nickname. I think most people she knows would assume Ava is her full name, to the point where they’d be confused about the Avoca on the class list (who’s that??), but in time they’d catch on. It might lead me to sometimes pronounce Avoca as Ay-VOH-ka instead of Ah, but I’d certainly never say VOCK. Again, though, that’s probably because I’m familiar with the town.
I immediately saw Avocado. I can’t seem to make the name flow when I say it.
Avocado was the first thing that came ro mind. I don’t like it with the pronunciation ah-VOH-ca at all. AV-uh-ca does sound like more of a name to me, but that also kind of defeats the purpose of the namesake if the town is pronounced the other way. I’d go with Ava if that’s what you would call her anyway.
I clicked through from Facebook to this post and reading the title, I immediately thought “That looks just like Avocado, but unfinished.) I wouldn’t have guessed that it is a place name or an Irish name. But I do like that you have a story behind the name with your long distance travels. (I especially like it since my husband and I did the long distance thing initially too.)
Seeing the word avocado first did throw me off on the pronunciation a little, but then I got it. In my mind I’m imagining the name as Scandinavian or as the bring name for something. Like I wouldn’t be surprised to hear it on a medication commercial.
Anyhow, I think it would be ok to use as a first name, as long as you’re up for explaining the pronunciation to people. Or it would make a sweet and meaningful middle name.
My immediate association with Avoca was that it sounds like “advocate” which then made me thing of “abogado” (lawyers in Spanish). I don’t know that these are negative, necessarily, but to me it feels less like a child’s name, and more like a corporate name that is trying to evoke a concept (like Altrua).
I agree with the above poster who suggested it as a middle name. It sounds a bit like a surname, so it would feel at home in the middle spot, and you’d get to have the sentimental reference in there. I also don’t see Ava as a nickname for it. For what it’s worth, Ava is popular but I don’t know even one among all of our friends and acquaintances of all ages (see yesterday’s post that popular does not necessarily mean common).
This was my first reaction. Lawyer in French is “avocat”, but the T isn’t pronounced. So, I can’t rid myseld of the association because it’s the exact same pronounciation. Any person who speaks French would wonder why you named her Lawyer. But maybe that doesn’t bother the letter writer.
Best wishes.
I voted “slight dislike” only because i saw it and immediately pronouced it ah-VOH-kah like you said… which is the EXACT pronounciation of the French for lawyer (as in advocate, as someone else mentioned) so i could never ever use it. But i love the story of the place name that you passed on long road trips! maybe as a middle name? or you could use it and just own it :)
also, you can call her Ava if you want. Nicknames are your own domaine.
I think the French word is pronounced avoCA.
Karen L is right.
I immediately thought of avocados, too. I have to say, my initial reaction was that I really don’t like it as a name for a little girl, but the Swistle had to go and suggest Avvie for a nickname, and I think that is actually a really cute name for a little girl.
I immediately thought avocado, and couldn’t stop myself from just reading “avocado” instead of Avoca as I read through the post. “Is Ava a natural nickname for Avocado-I-mean-Avoca”…like that.
Same thing happened to me.
I have been to Avoca, Ireland, and it is indeed a darling, if touristy, town. The show Ballykissangel was filmed there, if you are familiar with it. I don’t think it’s any weirder to use that as a name than Dakota or Paris or another place name. Is the town itself significant to you, or just the idea of an Irish place name? I don’t think Avoca sounds harsh, nor did I immediately think “avacado,” if that makes you feel any better.
I agree with Sonia.
Avocado is Avocat in French (Pronounced Avoca) so I double made the avocado connection right away. I think it could work as a name as long as you don’t mind explaining it over and over.
Avoca Beach is a place near me that is just beautiful, and my husband and I had a wonderful weekend there before my second baby was born. I could imagine having it on my list if it was where we’d met or if it had other significance for me. It’s in that great ‘familiar but unique’ category for me.
Avoca Beach was also my first association, and I don’t see a problem with it making the leap from place to person name. I don’t love it enough to consider myself, but it’s really pretty and I love the story behind it. I hope you will at least use it as a middle name.
I only make the connection to avocado when I see it written down, as I already knew how to pronounce it. But avocado is an attractive word (in my opinion!) and they ARE delicious, so it’s not the worst association.
As for Ava as a nickname, I don’t think it really works for all of the reasons above. It would work with the pronunciation AH-vah (which I prefer, mainly due to the overuse of Ay-va in my area a few years back) and would make that pronunciation more obvious, if that makes any sense. But if you’ve loved one pronunciation for so long, I doubt that would work.
I made the avocado connection right away. Even without, I don’t care for Avoca very much. I also think Ava really seems like a stretch. I wonder if you’d like something like Avalon instead? Unusual & Ava seems a little more natural coming from Avalon.
If you really love Ava, you should use Ava. Full stop. Yes, it is a popular name, but popular names are not nearly as popular overall as they used to be. Ava was #5 in 2012, but if you took Ava’s actual 2012 numbers (around 15,000 girls born with the name) and put them in the charts for 1986 (I’m guessing you were born somewhere around then), Ava would land somewhere around #16, between Danielle and Rachel. I was born around that time and don’t remember very many Danielle’s or Rachel’s in my school classes. These days I know several Rachel’s, probably because I live in an area with many Jewish people, and absolutely no Danielle’s.
To me, it seems like you’ve latched onto Avoca as a way of getting to use Ava, but without giving up an attachment you have to being the kind of clever person who picks unusual, distinctive names for their kids. I sympathize with you; I have been that person and sometimes still am. But eventually it is worth it to embrace what you actually like and not worry as much if it makes you seem common or unaware. It doesn’t matter. Ava is a popular name because it is a beautiful name. You like it. It shouldn’t be banished from your list because so many other people like it, too.
Moving on from that to Avoca itself, sadly the name doesn’t past the “Would I want this as my name?” test, for me at least, thanks to avocados. Unfortunately I can’t escape the sound! My mind wants to add “-do” onto the end of the name automatically. Looking up Avoca on Wikipedia and reading about the River Avoca and some poems about it began to change my mind a little…but not nearly enough.
There are so many beautiful and unusual names in the world. You have a rather tenuous connection to this one (it is a town you drove by, not one you lived in, etc.) as it is. Maybe you can pass over it in favor of something with either a stronger meaningful connection, or less fruity baggage.
If you like Irish names, how about a genuinely Irish choice like Aisling (ASH-ling) or Aoife (EE-fa)? This is a good site where you can read about traditional Irish names and hear them pronounced the Irish way by Frank McCourt: http://www.babynamesofireland.com/irish-girl-names
Getting back to Ava, your true love (it seems)– if you really can’t give up wanting to use an unusual name, how about a more unusual (but less baggage-y) name that starts with Av-? Such as Aviva or Aveline?
Other names that Ava made me think of, but are less common, or seemed sort of familiar to Avoca:
Acacia
Cassia
Maeve
Aldith
Arianwen
Mavis
Vivian
Lorca
Echo
Violet
Audrey
This is what I would think, too, that someone always intended to use Ava but found it too common. (Similar to the current thing where parents formalize a name by adding “son” and then call the kid by the original form, like Grayson/Gray.) Plus, I do not find “Ava” as commonly pronounced an intuitive nickname for Avoca at all, and I would contemplate the idea that you can’t really always tell other people what your kid’s nickname will be, and that “Avoca” is perhaps more likely to lead to “Voca”, or “Avo” or just “Vo”… although, to be frank, I quite like the idea of a small child nicknamed Vo – how stylish in a 1930s British way!
Vo is adorable and so 1930s Britain!
I’ve been to Avoca, Ireland and I love Ireland, so I automatically thought of that city. And therefore the name doesn’t seem too ‘out there’ to me. And I don’t think of avocado at all.
I think you could get Ava as a nickname, but it is not a natural one, so you’d have to really push it. (i.e. it doesn’t flow like Em does for Emily or something like that).
I’d use it if you like it. It’s unusual, but not any more than a lot of names.
I don’t see or think avacado at all when I see the name. Even after all this talk of avacados. And I eat avocados daily! Ironically, I keep somehow mistyping the word avocados on my phone and guess what autocorrect keeps doing with it?
Ava ados!!! There’s your Ava connection:)
It’s a very strong name, but I think of it as an exotic feminine name pronounced with a husky/sexy voice by a dark-haired beauty. I definitely see it more as an adult name than a little girl name, but is not distasteful; its just unfamiliar to me.
Sometimes, nicknames fall into place on their own and are more perfect than anything we can plan ahead.
I first thought of avocado, then “a vodka” ( have been watching Mad Men lately.) That said, I don’t think it is too “out there,” especially with the personal connection.
I didn’t notice an avocado connection at all until it was pointed out. It still seems like a reach to make that connection, but that’s probably because the way I’d pronounce it would be:
A as in apple or avenue
Vo as in vocation or volition
Ca as in cup or communion
Emphasis on the “a.”
However, once introduced to the idea of using Ava, I started pronouncing it:
A as in Amy or pay
Vo as in vulva (sorry, I couldn’t think of any other words that had that sound!)
Ca as in cup or communion
And I like it pronounced that way too.
That being said, I’d also warn against using an “out there” name to get to a common name for a nickname. Believe me, I have been through Zoella, Zoelie, Zolia… Trying to come up with an excuse for getting Zoe. There’s nothing wrong with any of those names– just as there’s nothing wrong with Avoca. But it would be hard for a single child to wear two full names like that — a nickname can be used as a full name (I have a Margaret that is known by Greta), but if the nickname has a strong (and separate) history it truly is a different name. In this case I would be concerned that it would limit her ability to transition from one version to another — she’d either be Ava with a weird story to tell to human resources when she’s filling out her I-9, or she’d be Avoca with pockets of friends and relatives who remember when her mom used to introduce her as “Ava.”
What about using Ava as the given name, and Avoca as the nickname? Adding a -ka is a common diminutive for close family in (I think) Russian?
Oh, nice! That’s much much better.
I also agree with the above and prefer the pronunciation of AY-VUH-KA. I find that ah-VOH-ka reminds me too much of avocado mixed with vodka. Plus, if you go with Ay-vuh-ka, that fits nicely with the nn Ava which I think is darling. A cute little story about where her name came from with a common nickname. I don’t think it is too far out there, especially since you have a go-to nickname. I also like Swistle’s suggestion of Avvie, if you choose to go with a different or alternate nn. Also, give her a couple options when she’s older to go by what she chooses.
If you do choose to go with the original pronunciation, then I still think Ava is ok nickname even though the beginning sounds don’t tie in together.
The French avocat made me think lawyer immediately, like those above. BUT it also made me pronounce it pretty close to correctly, which is a plus if you decide that the associations aren’t a big deal.
I like Ava as a nickname for it, definitely!
Avoca Beach is a suburb of Sydney, so I know the name well. As you say, it is Irish and means “estuary”, so it is very sea-related.
My first connection is to the beach and the sea, and also (I know this is a bit silly), to me it looks as if it comes from the Latin for “without voice”. It vaguely reminds me of the name Avalon (which is also a suburb of Sydney). I would actually prefer Avalon as a name to Avoca – it seems more name-like.
I don’t connect it to avocados, because it isn’t said the same way, and I would think Ava was a bit of a stretch as a nickname, but I have seen much bigger stretches in real life.
To me the problem is that you don’t seem to have really fallen in love with Avoca, you just want to name your daughter Ava but don’t want to admit it! :)
First thing I want to say is that I think it is lovely.
Avoca Beach is a gorgeous, touristy, surf beach north of Sydeny (not a suburb of Sydney) on the NSW Central Coast.
As I am a resident of Sydney and a lover of the beach and surf culture the name is very familiar to me, with no confusion of pronunciation or thoughts of avocados but that is probably because it is familiar.
I did a little research on the town and it was settled by an Irish man and yes the name means estuary or a more poetic meaning would be where the river meets the sea- beautiful! I hope Avoca in Iowa and Ireland are just as lovely.
I think you could get the nn Ava from Avoca but It isnt a natural one. I would be more inclined to nn Avie rhyming with savvy. I like the suggestion of Avalon too but again doesn’t really have the Ava sound and nn you are looking for. In fact I don’t think that Avoca or Avalon have natural nns at all and if nns are important to you then perhaps Avoca isn’t the name for you. However I still think that you could make it happen if you liked the name and wanted something different and less popular to Ava, I’ve seen nns with a much larger stretch of the imagination suggested on this site and others.
If you’re going to do it, honeymoon in Ireland or Australia so you can go to an actual place named Avoca and take a picture. Helps with that narrative! :-)
I think Avvie is a much better/more natural nickname choice.
I have a strong connection to Avoca in Ireland, so I thought of that immediately. I was actually eating an avocado as I read this and I must say, the connection did not even cross my mind until I read that part of the question. I did, however, think of evoke and evocative, probably because the Avoca I know is quintessentially Irish. More Irish than Irish actually.
I’m not a huge fan of the VO sound, but if the place association is strong for you, go for it. Like an earlier poster, I find Avalon more pleasant sounding, but it still leaves you with the nickname problem (though Avvie is quite nice!).
You could also use initials to get to Ava. A.V.A. Surname. Or, if you like Ava, would you like the less common Maeve?
I saw the title of this post and just cringed. I grew up ten minutes from an Avoca and it was not a place I’d want to live or commemorate. Perhaps every other Avoca in the country is lovely and others would have a positive association with it, though! :)
I actually didn’t think of the avocado connection, but like Swistle, now that I’ve seen it, I can’t unsee it.
I don’t mind Avoca & it doesn’t make me think of avocado due to the differences in pronunciation. For some reason, the nickname Coco comes to mind? That is a cute option.