Olivia

What Olivia means

From Latin Olīva, an early saints’ name from olīva (“olive; olive branch”). First popularized by Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

A female given name from Latin.

Source: Wiktionary, “Olivia” (revision 94542238), CC BY-SA 4.0.

How popular is Olivia?

US: Steady: #2 in 2015, #1 now. England & Wales: Steady: #2 in 2015, #1 now.

Biggest US share so far: 2014, when 19,840 girls got the name (#2 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 119 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 106 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 71 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 NH (16.86 per 1,000 girls), RI (16.72 per 1,000 girls), WY (16.03 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Olivia is #1 in the US and #1 in England & Wales (2025).

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9% of US babies named Olivia were girls.

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

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Alivia619 US · 9 E&W
• Alyvia109 US
• Olyvia48 US
• Aliviah15 US
• Oliviah9 US
• Olivea7 US
• Elivia5 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.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Alivia
• Olyvia

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Olivia

Girls

• Livia#819Editor’s note Down from #724 in 2015 to #819 in 2025 in the US
• Lilianna#890Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1980, with 6 babies
• Natalia#144“birthday (of the Lord)”^*
• Maya#62Editor’s note Steady in the US: #68 in 2015 and #62 in 2025. About 1 in 430 US girls in the 2025 records
• Lillian#57possibly “lily”^*
• Annabelle#343Editor’s note Cooling off in the US: #92 in 2015, #343 in 2025

For a brother

• Maximilian#590German, meaning “the greatest”^*
• Sebastian#16“august, venerable, exalted”^*
• Lukas#288“a man from Lucania”^*
• Magnus#763“great”^*
• Julian#25“Roman personal name”^*
• Blaze#781Editor’s note Down from #707 in 2015 to #781 in 2025 in the US

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 Olivia’s. Rank is US 2025.

Famous people named Olivia

• Olivia Rodrigo American singer-songwriter and actress (born 2003)
• Olivia de Havilland British actress (1916–2020)
• Olivia Wilde American actress and film director (born 1984)
• Olivia Newton-John British and Australian singer (1948–2022)
• Olivia Colman British actress

Characters

• Olivia Dunham fictional character in the television series Fringe
• Olivia Benson fictional character on the NBC police procedural drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• Olivia Pope fictional character in American TV series "Scandal"

People with this given name on Wikidata that have an English Wikipedia article, most widely covered first. Descriptions from Wikidata.