Alva is a given name. It is used in Sweden and Norway as a feminine form of the name Alf, meaning "elf." It is also a spelling variant of the Biblical masculine name Alvah, meaning "his highness." Alva is a currently popular name in Sweden, where it was ranked among the ten most popular names given to newborn girls in 2012. Notable people with the name include:
Alva Adams (governor) (1850–1922), Governor of Colorado
Alva B. Adams (1875–1941), U.S. Senator from Colorado, son of the governor
Alva Baptiste, Saint Lucian politician
Alva Belmont (1853–1933), American socialite and suffragette
Alva Bradley (1884–1953), American businessman and baseball executive
Alva Colquhoun (born 1942), Australian swimmer
Alva Duer (1904–1987), American college basketball coach
Thomas Alva Edison (1847–1931), American inventor and businessman
Alva Clark Forney (1871–1956), Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota (1925–1927)
Alva L. Hager (1850–1923), three-term U.S. Representative from Iowa
Alva Johnston (1888–1950), Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and biographer
Alva Kelley (1918–1999), American collegiate football player and coach
Alva Liles (1956–1998), American football player
Alva M. Lumpkin (1886–1941), U.S. Senator from South Carolina for less than a month
Alva Myrdal (1902–1986), Swedish Nobel Peace Prize winner
Alva Noë (born 1964), American philosopher and cognitive scientist
Alva Ross (died 2004), Jamaican politician
Alva Wong (born 1982), Canadian coach
