Avila

Avila is a feminine given name of Germanic origin, derived from the element *awi*, the precise meaning of which is uncertain but may relate to concepts of water or law found in other Germanic roots. The name is also strongly associated with the Spanish city of Ávila, which gained particular religious significance as the birthplace of Saint Teresa of Ávila, the sixteenth-century mystic and Doctor of the Church, making the name a devotional given name in Spanish-speaking cultures. Related forms include Avile and the masculine variant Avilo, and it shares broad connections with other Germanic-rooted names transmitted through Visigothic influence into the Iberian Peninsula.