Veda means ultimate wisdom

YASYA nis vasito Ve daha : Vedas are the very breath of Sarveswara, the Supreme Being. They are synonymous with God. The Vedas are the foundation of our Sanatana Dharma and are the revelations of Eternal Truth. Our worship of the Supreme Being is through recitation and worship of the Vedas.

Vedas are unique in that they offer a range of jnana that covers the existent and nonexistent, the gross and the subtle, the past, the present, the future and beyond. The Vedas have been preserved from time immemorial with phonetic exactitude, preservation of tonal accent and uncorrupted by any insertions. 

Sruti is another familiar name for the Vedas. Sruti means resonance, and the venerated rishis were endowed with faculties to receive. Learning was by listening, recitation and assimilation and not by recording or reading. Each sound of the Vedas that was taught to the disciple had a specific tonal quality, called swara, and the teachings had to be learnt without blemish, by listening alone. Vedic mantras were passed on from generation to generation by our unique Guru-sishya parampara i.e., teacher-student relationship. Thus, over ime, the Vedas have been preserved in their pristine purity. 

Aamnaaya and Nigama are two other names for the Vedas. Aamnaaya : Aamnaaya has meanings like sacred, handed down by repetition. 

Nigama: Nigama denotes the command that the teachings be followed in letter and spirit, with nothing left vague or susceptible  to dilution. 

The Vedas are also termed as Apaurusheya, i.e. not created by any agent. There are some more names for the Vedas like Anushrava, Trayi, Brahma etc. 

Vedas are Apaurusheya -- not created by a person, even a rishi. Had rishis created them, they would have been called mantra-kartas. Instead rishis are called mantra-drashtaas — they discovered the mantras, they perceived the Vedas through their superior wisdom. They listened and understood the ever-present Vedas and passed them on to posterity. Vedas are the creation of the sarvagna (omniscient) sarweswara (the Supreme Lord) as per His own sankalpa, divine resolve. Eswara taught the Vedas first to Lord Brahma not through recitation but by His divine resolve. A detailed description of this could be had from a reading of Srimad Bhagavatam.