Olivia Name Meaning, Origin & Popularity

About Olivia

Olivia, a lovely Shakespearean name with an admirable balance of strength and femininity, is one of the top girls' names around the world. 2025 marked its 7th consecutive year in the #1 spot in the US charts and a decade of being the top ranking choice in England and Wales.

Olivia for girls#1 US

Olivia ranks among the Top 10 girls' names in several English-speaking countries as well as in Spain, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, and Argentina. And it's a Top 100 name in most countries that keep baby-naming statistics, making it an internationally flexible choice.

Records of the name Olivia exist from as far back as the 13th century in England, but it began to be given more frequently after Shakespeare used it for one of the leading characters in his 1602 play, Twelfth Night. Derived from the Latin word oliva, meaning "olive", the name is therefore associated with a token of peace and fertility, the Greek goddess, Athena, and the wreaths originally awarded to winners of the early Olympic games.

Ranking in the US Top 1000 since records began in 1880, it has never fallen below the Top 600, and, after reaching its low point in the early 70s (#542), it bounced back, likely propelled forward by the singer Olivia Newtown-John and by Olivia Walton, who appeared in a 1972 drama, called The Waltons. It leapt up the charts again in 1990, making its debut in the Top 100 and nearly doubling in usage, likely thanks to the character Olivia Kendall from The Crosby Show.

Other notable bearers include Golden Age star Olivia de Havilland, actresses Olivia Wilde, Olivia Colman, Olivia Munn, and Olivia Williams, and singer, Olivia Rodrigo. On TV, there's been Olivia Benson in Law & Order SVU and the powerful lead Olivia Pope on Scandal.

Like many international names, Olivia has slightly different pronunciations depending on language and dialect. In English, it can be uh-LIV-ee-uh or o-LIV-ee-uh, though across the world it's o-LEE-vyah (German and Italian), o-LEE-byah (European Spanish), AW-LEE-VYAH (French), O-lee-vee-ah (Finnish), and o-LEE-vee-ah (Dutch)

If you love popular names, Olivia might be the perfect choice for you: a solid, literary, and familiar option with versatile nicknames, Liv, Livvy, Ollie, and Via, depending on what suits best. For those in search of a similar but less popular option, however, there's Olive, Ophelia, Livia, and Liv, along with Octavia, Olympia, Lavinia, and Elvira.

Olivia for boys#8067 US

Olivia has appeared in the US stats sporadically over the years, possibly owing the data input errors, or perhaps because it sounds similar to Oliver and Olivier.

Pronounced oh-LIV-ee-uh.

As of October 2026, Olivia ranked #1 for girls and #8067 for boys in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #1 for girls in 2021 and #1745 for boys in 2004, Nameberry popularity #10 for girls.

Year	US rank · girls	Births · girls	US rank · boys	Births · boys
2014	#2	19,836	#4,355	23
2015	#2	19,726	—	0
2016	#2	19,409	—	0
2017	#2	18,777	—	0
2018	#2	18,055	—	0
2019	#1	18,569	—	0
2020	#1	17,682	—	0
2021	#1	17,841	—	0
2022	#1	16,654	—	0
2023	#1	15,313	—	0
2024	#1	14,718	—	0
2025	#1	13,544	—	0

Olivia

About Olivia

Olivia for girls#1 US

Olivia for boys#8067 US

Popularity & trends

World rankings

Olivia for girls

Similar names

Olivia on lists

Famous Olivias

Olivia in pop culture

Variations & nicknames

Olivia in blog posts

Community discussions

Save Olivia