Olivia

femaleLatin

Commonly interpreted as 'olive tree' or 'symbol of peace'.

Origin: Latin — Commonly linked to the Latin 'oliva' (olive), likely via the olive branch as a symbol of peace.

Official popularity data is available for 7 regions, from 1964 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #1 in Scotland in 2024. See regions.

Olivia: Recorded every year since 1964, it reached #1 in 2008, and it was still inside the top 100 in 2025.

7registrars recorded it
254times a registrar ranked it
62years from first to last
#1highest recorded position
49groupings it qualifies for
82names it appears alongside

What stands out in Olivia's record

Ranked inside the top 10 by 7 registrars, and #1 in 4 of them. Names by top-10 reach
Ranked every year since 1964, without a single year missing. Names by continuity of record
Held a top-100 place for 53 years running. Names by top-100 run
England and Wales registered 5,325 births with the name in 2008, its largest count from any one registrar. Names by yearly birth count

oh-LIV-ee-uh/əˈlɪviə/

Compare Olivia Run Name Checker on Olivia

Data Confidence

Evidence: HighCompleteness: CompleteEditorial review: 2026-06-15

Confidence in the evidencebehind this name's data — never a rating of the name itself, and never affected by how well it matches your preferences. How this is assessed

Because: backed by officially or academically authoritative sources, recently verified, most expected sections are populated, popularity data covers multiple regions.

Source authority

Averaged from the real per-claim source-authority assessments already computed for this name's meaning/origin/pronunciation/popularity evidence.

Independent corroboration

Averaged from the real per-claim supporting-source counts already computed for this name's evidence.

See full evidence assessment (8 dimensions, 1 not yet tracked)

Source agreement

No recorded source disagreement for this name's meanings or origins.

Recency

Calculated from how long ago this record was last verified (2026-06-15), against a 270-day staleness threshold.

Geographic relevance

Calculated from the number of geographies with official popularity data (7) — broader official coverage means the evidence base is relevant to more of where the name is actually used.

Completeness

Calculated from how many of the expected data sections (variants, similar names, popularity, notable usage, IPA pronunciation) are actually populated for this name.

Direct observation vs. inference

Averaged from the real per-claim direct-observation-vs-inference ratios already computed for this name's evidence.

Identity & variant resolution quality

Cross-source identity and variant resolution requires HEKNO Knowledge, which isn't connected yet.

Name Characteristics

How these are calculated

Descriptive attributes of the name itself — not a confidence measurement, and not an overall quality score. Namewise doesn't approve or disapprove of names.

Pronunciation clarity

Editorial judgement of how consistently this name is pronounced correctly on first read, mapped from an easy/moderate/variable rating to a number. Describes the name — not a measure of evidence confidence.

Spelling simplicity

Calculated directly from the name's spelling: shorter names with fewer irregular letter clusters score higher. A disclosed formula, not an editorial opinion — and not a confidence measurement.

Recorded regional spread

Derived from how many geographies' official statistics record this name. It measures where the name is registered, not how well-known it feels to people living there.

International spread

Derived from the same official statistical coverage, scaled to reflect how widely the name crosses national datasets. Not a measure of how easily it is understood in another language.

Trend stability

Derived from the name's traditional/modern classification and its current popularity trend direction.

Overview

Origin: Latin
Meaning: Commonly interpreted as 'olive tree' or 'symbol of peace'.
Pronunciation: oh-LIV-ee-uh
Syllables: 3
Common nicknames: Liv, Livvy
Classification: Traditional & modern
Gender usage: female
Language family: Latin

Popularity

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2025

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#24
1997	#19
1998	#16
1999	#4
2000	#8
2001	#10
2002	#9
2003	#8
2004	#6
2005	#4
2006	#2
2007	#3
2008	#1
2009	#1
2010	#1
2011	#2
2012	#2
2013	#2
2014	#2
2015	#2
2016	#1
2017	#1
2018	#1
2019	#1
2020	#1
2021	#1
2022	#1
2023	#1
2024	#1
2025	#1

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

RisingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Republic of Ireland in every year from 1964 to 2025.

In 2025: #1 among girls in England and Wales, #2 among girls in Norway, #3 among girls in New South Wales, Australia, #8 among girls in Republic of Ireland.

Official data from 7 national registrars across 7 regions, 1964–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1964
First recorded at #488 among girls in Norway in 1964 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Norway · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #1 among girls in England and Wales, in 2025.
England and Wales · Girls

Olivia appears in 6 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Republic of Ireland · Girls, which has ranked it in 62 years beginning in 1964, and has registered 8,419 births with the name.

Olivia across 6 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Olivia's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Norway · Girls	#488 (1964)	#2 (2023)	#2 (2025)	43 of 62	5,649 (1964–2025)	368 (2025)
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#171 (1964)	#4 (1975)	#8 (2025)	62 of 62	8,419 (1964–2025)	618 (1975)
New South Wales, Australia · Girls	#66 (1978)	#1 (2014)	#3 (2025)	42 of 48	16,739 (1978–2025)	652 (2016)
New Zealand · Girls	#70 (1977)	#1 (2012)	#4 (2023)	47 of 47	9,975 (1977–2023)	377 (2000)
England and Wales · Girls	#24 (1996)	#1 (2008)	#1 (2025)	30 of 30	122,585 (1996–2025)	5,325 (2008)
Northern Ireland · Girls	#46 (1997)	#2 (2024)	#2 (2024)	28 of 28	3,393 (1997–2024)	191 (2016)

Where the highest position is not the biggest year

Inside a single year a registrar's ranking is its birth counts put in order, so the top of a list is always the name given to the most babies that year. Across years the two separate, because the number of births and the number of names sharing them both change.

In Northern Ireland · Girls the name reached its highest position, #2, in 2024, when 109 births were registered with it. More were registered in 2016 — 191 — in a year it ranked #3.

Olivia by decade in Republic of Ireland · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Olivia in Republic of Ireland · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1960s	146	6 of 10	24
1970s	1,774	10 of 10	177
1980s	646	10 of 10	65
1990s	590	10 of 10	59
2000s	1,177	10 of 10	118
2010sbusiest	2,692	10 of 10	269
2020s	1,394	6 of 10	232

Across Republic of Ireland · Girls, the 2010s were its busiest decade, averaging 269 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 1974 and 1975, when recorded births rose by 488, from 130 to 618.

See the names Republic of Irelandhas recorded the most births with →

Olivia appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

What the record shows

Recorded by 7 registrars between 1964 and 2025, ranked in 62 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #1, first reached in 2008.

It held a top-100 place in 53 years, 53 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 5,325 births, registered in England and Wales in 2008.

7 registrars ranked it inside their own top 10. It reached #1 in 4 registrars' lists.

A second registrar first ranked it in 1964, and 60 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Olivia was ranked #1 in England and Wales · Girls in 2008. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Oliver-James · #1012, 21y
Olivers · #506, 18y
Olivia-Grace · #281, 24y
Olivia-Jane · #3151, 17y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 7 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Amelia · #1, 59y
Emily · #1, 62y
Isabella · #1, 59y
Jason · #1, 62y

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1960 and 1969.

Amelia · #1, 59y
Aoife · #1, 62y
Conor · #1, 62y
Emily · #1, 62y

Comparisons involving Olivia

Existing comparison pages where Olivia and another name were ranked in the same published list, in the same years, on the same scale. Each has its own evidence; none of them says the names are alike.

Longest shared records

Names ranked alongside Olivia in the same published list across at least 25 years.

Olivia vs Danielle
In 1996 they stood at #24 and #20 in England and Wales · Girls, 4 places apart; by 2025 they were #1 and #1454.
Olivia · Danielle · 30 shared years, 1996–2025 · Started together, ended far apart
See the 2025 England and Wales ranking
Olivia vs Chelsea
In 1996 they stood at #24 and #34 in England and Wales · Girls, 10 places apart; by 2025 they were #1 and #983.
Olivia · Chelsea · 30 shared years, 1996–2025 · Started together, ended far apart
See the 2025 England and Wales ranking
Olivia vs Jade
In 1996 they stood at #24 and #19 in England and Wales · Girls, 5 places apart; by 2025 they were #1 and #747.
Olivia · Jade · 30 shared years, 1996–2025 · Started together, ended far apart
See the 2025 England and Wales ranking

Closest long-running positions

Names that stayed close to Olivia within one registrar's list over many years. A gap measured inside that list, never across registrars.

Olivia vs Isabella
Across 33 shared years in New South Wales, Australia · Girls, Olivia and Isabella averaged 7.5 places apart, ending at #3 and #17.
Olivia · Isabella · 33 shared years, 1993–2025 · Closest over the longest run
See the 2025 New South Wales, Australia ranking
Olivia vs Amelia
Across 30 shared years in England and Wales · Girls, Olivia and Amelia averaged 9.7 places apart, ending at #1 and #3.
Olivia · Amelia · 30 shared years, 1996–2025 · Closest over the longest run
See the 2025 England and Wales ranking
Olivia vs Aoife
Across 28 shared years in Northern Ireland · Girls, Olivia and Aoife averaged 9.9 places apart, ending at #2 and #4.
Olivia · Aoife · 28 shared years, 1997–2024 · Closest over the longest run
See the 2024 Northern Ireland ranking

Order changes

Pairs where Olivia and another name exchanged position in a published list, taken as the final meaningful change.

Emily vs Olivia
In 2013, Olivia moved ahead of Emily in New South Wales, Australia · Girls — #3 and #4 the year before became #6 and #2.
Emily · Olivia · 42 shared years, 1978–2025 · One moved ahead of the other
See the 2013 New South Wales, Australia ranking
Jessica vs Olivia
In 2006, Olivia moved ahead of Jessica in England and Wales · Girls — #1 and #4 the year before became #3 and #2.
Jessica · Olivia · 30 shared years, 1996–2025 · One moved ahead of the other
See the 2006 England and Wales ranking
Olivia vs Sophie
In 2006, Olivia moved ahead of Sophie in England and Wales · Girls — #4 and #3 the year before became #2 and #6.
Olivia · Sophie · 30 shared years, 1996–2025 · One moved ahead of the other
See the 2006 England and Wales ranking

Compared inside New South Wales, Australia lists

Pairs involving Olivia measured in New South Wales, Australia's own published lists — the registrar that recorded Olivia at its highest position.

Olivia vs Evie
Both reached their highest recorded position in New South Wales, Australia · Girls within 2 years — Olivia #1 in 2014, Evie #14 in 2016.
Olivia · Evie · 19 shared years, 2007–2025 · Peaked in the same years
See the 2016 New South Wales, Australia ranking
Olivia vs Brooke
In 1998, Olivia moved ahead of Brooke in New South Wales, Australia · Girls — #19 and #17 the year before became #7 and #14.
Olivia · Brooke · 25 shared years, 1978–2008 · One moved ahead of the other
See the 1998 New South Wales, Australia ranking
Olivia vs Caitlin
In 1998, Olivia moved ahead of Caitlin in New South Wales, Australia · Girls — #19 and #12 the year before became #7 and #10.
Olivia · Caitlin · 25 shared years, 1988–2013 · One moved ahead of the other
See the 1998 New South Wales, Australia ranking

New South Wales, Australia overview→

Olivia and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,577 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Olivia without appearing here.

Olivia moved ahead of

Else
In 1996 they stood at #316 and #282 in Norway · Girls; by 1997 that had become #219 and #604.
Mila Compare
In 1992 they stood at #672 and #665 in Norway · Girls; by 1993 that had become #281 and #659.
Matilda Compare
In 1992 they stood at #520 and #517 in Norway · Girls; by 1993 that had become #281 and #657.
Mary
In 1996 they stood at #316 and #314 in Norway · Girls; by 1997 that had become #219 and #573.

Moved ahead of Olivia

Éabha
In 2020 they stood at #11 and #16 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2021 that had become #18 and #5.
Lily Compare
In 2020 they stood at #11 and #12 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2021 that had become #18 and #9.
Fiadh Compare
In 2017 they stood at #11 and #21 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2018 that had become #14 and #10.

Moved the opposite way to Olivia

Åse
Between 1964 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Olivia went from #488 to #2 while Åse went from #43 to #93.
Aud
Between 1964 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Olivia went from #488 to #2 while Aud went from #61 to #427.
Audrey
Between 1964 and 2025 in Republic of Ireland · Girls, Olivia went from #171 to #8 while Audrey went from #85 to #885.
Bjørg
Between 1964 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Olivia went from #488 to #2 while Bjørg went from #57 to #369.

Moved the same way as Olivia

Alexandra Compare
Between 1964 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Olivia went from #488 to #2 and Alexandra from #452 to #212.
Andrea Compare
Between 1964 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Olivia went from #488 to #2 and Andrea from #248 to #98.
Anna Compare
Between 1964 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Olivia went from #488 to #2 and Anna from #73 to #23.
Elise Compare
Between 1964 and 2025 in Norway · Girls, Olivia went from #488 to #2 and Elise from #238 to #63.

Meaning & Origin

Commonly interpreted as 'olive tree' or 'symbol of peace'.

Olivia is widely believed to derive from the Latin 'oliva'. It first appears prominently as a character name in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night (1602), which is thought to have popularised the spelling in English.

VerifiedSource: Namewise editorial team, Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Latin

Commonly linked to the Latin 'oliva' (olive), likely via the olive branch as a symbol of peace.

VerifiedSource: Namewise editorial team, Wikidata, Behind the Name.Confidence: medium.

Other names with a researched meaning and origin →

Where Olivia is officially recorded

7 official registrars have recorded Olivia, between 1964 and 2025. Each registrar publishes for its own population on its own methodology, so the positions below are each one country's own ranking and are not comparable with one another.

Registrar	Recorded	Years	Its own highest position
Republic of Ireland	1964–2025	62	#4 in 1975
Norway	1964–2025	43	#2 in 2023
New Zealand	1977–2023	47	#1 in 2012
New South Wales, Australia	1978–2025	42	#1 in 2014
England and Wales	1996–2025	30	#1 in 2008
Northern Ireland	1997–2024	28	#2 in 2024
Scotland	2024	1	#1 in 2024

Its high point came 49 years earlier in Republic of Ireland (1975) than in Northern Ireland (2024).

Variants

Olivea · spelling
Liv · nickname
Livvy · nickname
Oliwia · regional

Similar Names

See full comparison →

Amelia11% similar

Shares a soft, three-to-four syllable rhythm and similar era of peak popularity.

Olivia vs Amelia

Aurelia43% similar

origin

Similar Latin-rooted sound pattern and matching syllable length.

Isla11% similar

Both sit consistently among the most-used names of their era in the UK.

Olivia vs Isla

Similarity is a demonstration score — see methodology.

Spelling

Spelling simplicity

Calculated directly from the name's spelling — see Name Characteristics above.

Common alternate spellings: Olivea.

Pronunciation

oh-LIV-ee-uh/əˈlɪviə/

Syllables: 3
Ease: easy

Demonstration dataSource: Namewise editorial team.Confidence: low.

Where Olivia Is Recorded

National statistical agencies have recorded Olivia in these places. This shows where the name is used — not where it comes from, and not that it carries particular cultural significance there.

New South Wales, AustraliaEngland and WalesNorthern IrelandScotlandRepublic of IrelandNorwayNew Zealand

Notable Usage

No safely-sourced notable usage recorded for this name yet.

Sibling & Surname Compatibility

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Olivia

Olivia at a glance

What stands out in Olivia's record

Overview

Popularity

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Olivia across 6 official records

Where the highest position is not the biggest year

Olivia by decade in Republic of Ireland · Girls

Olivia appears in

What the record shows

Names published alongside Olivia

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Comparisons involving Olivia

Longest shared records

Closest long-running positions

Order changes

Compared inside New South Wales, Australia lists

Olivia and the names beside it

Olivia moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Olivia

Moved the opposite way to Olivia

Moved the same way as Olivia

Meaning & Origin

Where Olivia is officially recorded

Variants

Similar Names

Spelling

Pronunciation

Where Olivia Is Recorded

Notable Usage

Sibling & Surname Compatibility

Olivia at a glance

What stands out in Olivia's record

Olivia across 6 official records

Where the highest position is not the biggest year

Olivia by decade in Republic of Ireland · Girls

Olivia appears in

What the record shows

Names published alongside Olivia

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1960s

Comparisons involving Olivia

Longest shared records

Closest long-running positions

Order changes

Compared inside New South Wales, Australia lists

Olivia and the names beside it

Olivia moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Olivia

Moved the opposite way to Olivia

Moved the same way as Olivia