Evangelia

Evangelia is the feminine counterpart to Evangelos, and like its brother it carries the meaning good news, the Greek word from which gospel itself is translated. It is among the most common feminine names in Greece, honored on the Feast of the Annunciation each March and softened in family use to Eva, Lia, or Evi. Four lyrical syllables, eh-van-geh-LEE-ah, with a melodic lift at the close. The name has a Byzantine gold-leaf quality, a sense of icon lamps and incense, but also the brightness of a word that has never stopped meaning welcome, meaning come in.