Veda is a name which fits in with the form and sound of names which were popular with parents in the USA in the late 19th century.
It's not possible without further information to know whether your great great grandparents invented
Veda themselves by combining sounds from names like
Vera and Neda, or whether they heard or saw the Sanskrit term and simply thought it sounded pretty and would make a good girl's name.
There were 150 women named
Veda in the 1880 US Census and I think it's unlikely most of their parents had any real interest in Hinduism. You also have women named Vela,
Vena, Veta, Beda, Fleda,
Eda, Neda, etc. at that point in history. This site gives a Turkish origin for
Eda, but of course the over seven thousand women named
Eda in the 1880 US Census didn't have parents who knew about obscure Turkish names. They just were creating a new feminine form for
Edward or altering
Edna in a way they thought sounded pleasant.
I once met a conservative
Christian minister who has a daughter named Karma (born about 40 years ago.) He told me he and his wife just heard the name and thought it sounded pretty and they had no idea it was a Hindu religious concept.
This message was edited 9/10/2009, 5:52 AM