Is Reeva ok to use?

I've only read the op, but I think if Reeva was a well known south african name that would be one thing, but my husband is south african and had never heard of it. So it's kind of specific to her and I think you should avoid

It's a pretty name

If I liked it and was having a girl what has happened to one person with the name would not stop me from using it

....And now I know my name change has worked....

DD is Meredith. We liked the name before the case was in the news and she was born around a year later (I think?). It did cross my mind whether it was ok using the name, again massive news story and a violent death, but it felt wrong to tar the name by association and cross it off the list.

6yrs on and I only remember the connection when the case hits the headlines every so often. Even then it's just a vague acknowledgment they have the same names, my Meredith is very much her own person, I don't feel she's burdened with the name or anything.

I think it's fine.

I'm expecting a baby and really like the name too. I have seen it spelled Riva quite a lot which would be a better choice if you did go for it. Personally I think it's still too soon and it's not like it's a popular name here so no it's not the same as using Holly, Jessica or Madeleine.

I say go for it, but stick with the Riva spelling.

Riva would be fine, you have a family connection and it's not the same as Reeva. Why you would change the spelling to Reeva I don't know.

I like it, but as a sci fi buff, my immediate thought is the horrifying Reavers from firefly/serenity.

Of course it is! Not as unique as you'd thin either

"THE HIGHEST RISING NAMES IN ENGLAND AND WALES 2013

Here is a run down on the names that made the most gains in 2013.

The highest rising name for girls in 2013 was Reeva, obviously inspired by model and paralegal Reeva Steenkamp who was tragically killed in February 2013. The case was (and still is) very big news and, while parents may not have deliberately named their daughters for Reeva Steenkamp, for most Brits, it was the first time we had heard of her name. Clearly some parents liked it enough to use it. Oscar (the other major player in this case) also saw big gains in 2013.

For boys, Greyson at #882 made the most gains moving over 1000 places. More popular spelling Grayson, at #231, also moved up over 100 places itself.

Below is a chart of the top 50 boys' and girls' names within the 2013 England and Wales Top 1000 whose rank increased the most since 2012. The first number denotes the name's rank in 2013."

It would be lovely to use that name!

She was a beautiful woman, whose life ended so tragically.

Let her have a lovely legacy!

I'd be put off, I'm honest, not only by the RS connection but the border reivers as already mentioned.

Also if you meet anyone who's a Firefly/ Serenity fan, they'll associate it with reavers (I won't link because the images and narrative are quite upsetting) who are straight out of a horror story.

I wouldn't use it. Friends mate has a little girl called Madeline. The same age as MM.

She gets it on a daily basis about MM and how sad it was.

Tryingnottolaugh
You sound like my mother, she did this with every name I suggested!

Most names can be made to rhyme with something.

I would if I was pregnant and liked that name.

Your baby isn't due to next March by then the news would have long moved on.
The name isn't copyrighted or anything, it's not in bad taste.
I really don't get why it is an issue. Maybe if you were due to give birth tonight I could understand your concern but otherwise no.

The only association I have with the name Reeva is RS. I'd never heard the name before, I've never met anyone called Reeva and I've never read about anyone else called Reeva. It may be a common name in South Africa for all I know, but it's very unusual here. So people inevitably would associate it with this case. James/Oscar/Madeleine/Holly are all popular and commonly used names, so the comparison is pointless.

A reiver is a thief, pirate, plunderer, by the way, so the associations of the name spelt with the double E are fairly negative for me anyway - I think it's quite ugly and in English looks like a misspelling. The spelling Riva is better as I immediately think of the Italian word meaning 'bank' or 'shore' (though I still don't really think of it as a girl's name).

Other reasons not to use it:

Reeva the beaver
Reeva the Diva

(Possible secondary school nicknames)

If you can ride out the initial comments after baby is born I'd imagine it'd quickly become a non issue. What about Reba? One of my fave country singers.

I think it's fine to use and I'm surprised that anyone thinks it's in bad taste. It's a just a name, that probably already belongs to lots of other lovely girls that don't have Steenkamp as a surname.

Your baby isn't due until March, your child peers are still in utero, by the time your child is even capable of recognising her own name the Oscar trial will be done, dusted, and forgotten by anyone who wasn't involved.

Adults now might make a connection to Reeva Steenkamp, but as the name would belong to your dd as much as it did to her, it would be a very brief and fleeting thought, and the people your dd is going to be friends with, go to school with, work with will probably never know anything about another Reeva who was killed.

And I don't think you have any need to change the spelling, but if you do I think Rieva is nicer than Riva, which just looks like Viva, which then makes me think Las Vegas.

My son is a James and of course people don't automatically think of James Bulge BUT James is a common name.

Reeva isn't and therein lies the difference for me.

I wouldn't - just because it is unusual and will therefore be associated with Reeva Steenkamp. It's not like Madeleine.

(Although I wanted to call ds1 Madeleine, then by the time dd came along, Madeleine McCann had gone missing so I didn't call dd Madeleine).

It's a lovely name and I would not see it as association to RS unless you have some connection to the family of RS.

People will make the connection between your Reeva and Reeva Steencamp, if you're ok with that then use it.

It is a love name.

I made the same point Outraged, but there will always be some people determined to be deliberately obtuse.