BabyNamesMap

Baby names › Girls

Nova

Means “new”*

CommonRare
Rank 2015: #213, 2016: #136, 2017: #94, 2018: #55, 2019: #51, 2020: #38, 2021: #32, 2022: #32, 2023: #35, 2024: #39, 2025: #461 in 345 girls in the US, 2025#46 · rising · was #213 in 2015
CommonRare
Rank 2015: #525, 2016: #400, 2017: #273, 2018: #207, 2019: #186, 2020: #144, 2021: #101, 2022: #91, 2023: #81, 2024: #80, 2025: #681 in 390 girls in E&W, 2025#68 · rising · was #525 in 2015

Girl’s name · Latin

Try with your surname

What Nova means

Means “new”

From Latin nova (“new”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Nova” (revision 87730309), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Nova?

US 2025
#46
4,657 babies
▼ 7 vs 2024
England & Wales 2025
#68
650 babies
▲ 12 vs 2024
Scotland 2025
#74
56 babies
▼ 15 vs 2024

US: Rising: up from #213 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #525 in 2015.

0123418801920196020002025
US, 1880–2025England & Wales, 1996–2025Babies per 1,000 girls born. Dot: biggest US share (2022)

Biggest US share so far: 2022, when 5,927 girls got the name (#32 that year). First in the US records in 1885.

How common

  • About 1 in 345 baby girls in the US in 2025
  • About 1 in 390 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
  • About 1 in 320 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in DE (9.31 per 1,000 girls), HI (8.39 per 1,000 girls), AK (7.86 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

AK
ME
WI
VT
NH
WA
ID
MT
ND
MN
IL
MI
NY
MA
OR
NV
WY
SD
IA
IN
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
UT
CO
NE
MO
KY
WV
VA
MD
DE
AZ
NM
KS
AR
TN
NC
SC
DC
OK
LA
MS
AL
GA
HI
TX
FL
FewerMore · grey: under 5 babies, not listed

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Nova is #46 in the US and #68 in England & Wales (2025).

Rank 2025BabiesHow commonRank 2015
US#464,6571 in 345#213
England & Wales#686501 in 390#525
Scotland#74561 in 320#361

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 96.9% of US babies named Nova were girls.

GirlsBoys
US 20254,657149
England & Wales 202565018
US all years since 188055,7833,227
England & Wales since 19964,279196

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

Other spellings

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

  • Navy935 US · 90 E&W
  • Novah249 US · 30 E&W
  • Navi179 US · 6 E&W
  • Nava83 US · 9 E&W
  • Novi69 US · 17 E&W
  • Niva38 US · 15 E&W
  • Neva47 US · 6 E&W
  • Knova34 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Nova

Girls

  • Emilia#45Variant of Emily, meaning “rival, emulator”
  • Aurora#15Italian, from Latin Aurōra, meaning “dawn, sunrise”
  • Zara#212“flower”
  • Luna#27“the moon”
  • Mabel#201“lovable”
  • Leona#429Feminine form of Leo, meaning “lion”

For a brother

  • Leo#19“lion”
  • August#81“month of August”
  • Bennett#40Form of Benedict, meaning “blessed, well spoken of”
  • Roman#42Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #102 in 2015, #42 in 2025
  • Augustus#407“majestic, venerable”
  • Felix#175“happy, lucky”

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Latin, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Nova’s. Rank is US 2025.

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