Nova

maleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Nova: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Nova: Recorded since 2000, its highest recorded position is #59, and it stood at #119 in 2025.

5registrars recorded it
77times a registrar ranked it
26years from first to last
#59highest recorded position
13groupings it qualifies for

Region

Rising

among girls in England and Wales · 2000–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
2000	#3912
2001	#2466
2003	#3594
2005	#3970
2006	#2320
2007	#4294
2008	#3860
2009	#2326
2010	#2392
2011	#3185
2012	#1720
2013	#1128
2014	#794
2015	#525
2016	#400
2017	#273
2018	#207
2019	#186
2020	#144
2021	#101
2022	#91
2023	#81
2024	#80

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 England and Wales in 23 of the 25 years from 2000 to 2024.

In 2025: #119 among girls in Norway, #180 among girls in Republic of Ireland.

Official data from 5 national registrars across 5 regions, 2000–2025 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded2000
First recorded at #3912 among girls in England and Wales in 2000 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Girls
Most recent2025
Most recently recorded at #119 among girls in Norway, in 2025.
Norway · Girls

Nova appears in 5 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, which has ranked it in 23 years beginning in 2000, and has registered 3,629 births with the name.

Nova across 5 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.

Nova'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
England and Wales · Girls	#3912 (2000)	#80 (2024)	#80 (2024)	23 of 25	3,629 (2000–2024)	603 (2024)
Norway · Girls	#575 (2006)	#88 (2022)	#119 (2025)	19 of 20	614 (2006–2025)	63 (2022)
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#907 (2012)	#171 (2024)	#180 (2025)	13 of 14	192 (2012–2025)	26 (2024)
England and Wales · Boys	#4685 (2013)	#1084 (2022)	#1758 (2024)	12 of 12	178 (2013–2024)	26 (2022)
Northern Ireland · Girls	#440 (2016)	#101 (2024)	#101 (2024)	8 of 9	67 (2016–2024)	20 (2024)

Nova by decade in England and Wales · 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 Nova in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
2000s	45	8 of 10	6
2010s	1,005	10 of 10	101
2020sbusiest	2,579	5 of 10	516

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 516 births a year.

Its sharpest single-year move came between 2020 and 2021, when recorded births rose by 154, from 352 to 506.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Nova appears in

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

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 5 regions, from 2000 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #59 in Scotland in 2024.

Nova's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#80	603	High	Verified
2024	England and Wales	male	#1758	14	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#81	579	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	male	#1108	26	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#91	539	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	male	#1084	26	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#101	506	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	male	#1117	25	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#144	352	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	male	#1492	16	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#186	267	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	male	#1439	17	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#207	251	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	male	#1533	16	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#273	179	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	male	#2052	11	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#400	112	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	male	#2027	11	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#525	82	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	male	#2150	10	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#794	49	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	male	#4632	3	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#1128	31	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	male	#4685	3	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#1720	17	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#3185	7	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#2392	10	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#2326	10	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#3860	5	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#4294	4	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#2320	9	High	Verified
2005	England and Wales	female	#3970	4	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#3594	4	High	Verified
2001	England and Wales	female	#2466	6	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#3912	3	High	Verified
2024	Northern Ireland	female	#101	20	High	Verified
2023	Northern Ireland	female	#178	10	High	Verified
2022	Northern Ireland	female	#243	7	High	Verified
2021	Northern Ireland	female	#237	7	High	Verified
2020	Northern Ireland	female	#228	7	High	Verified
2019	Northern Ireland	female	#263	6	High	Verified
2018	Northern Ireland	female	#238	7	High	Verified
2016	Northern Ireland	female	#440	3	High	Verified
2025	Norway	female	#119	47	High	Verified
2024	Norway	female	#95	59	High	Verified
2023	Norway	female	#108	53	High	Verified
2022	Norway	female	#88	63	High	Verified
2021	Norway	female	#93	58	High	Verified
2020	Norway	female	#106	50	High	Verified
2019	Norway	female	#121	44	High	Verified
2018	Norway	female	#131	43	High	Verified
2017	Norway	female	#164	35	High	Verified
2016	Norway	female	#151	39	High	Verified
2015	Norway	female	#218	25	High	Verified
2014	Norway	female	#250	22	High	Verified
2013	Norway	female	#217	26	High	Verified
2012	Norway	female	#365	12	High	Verified
2011	Norway	female	#386	11	High	Verified
2010	Norway	female	#434	9	High	Verified
2009	Norway	female	#532	6	High	Verified
2008	Norway	female	#482	7	High	Verified
2006	Norway	female	#575	5	High	Verified
2025	Republic of Ireland	female	#180	26	High	Verified
2024	Republic of Ireland	female	#171	26	High	Verified
2023	Republic of Ireland	female	#364	10	High	Verified
2022	Republic of Ireland	female	#232	19	High	Verified
2021	Republic of Ireland	female	#190	25	High	Verified
2020	Republic of Ireland	female	#410	9	High	Verified
2019	Republic of Ireland	female	#271	17	High	Verified
2018	Republic of Ireland	female	#267	17	High	Verified
2017	Republic of Ireland	female	#289	16	High	Verified
2016	Republic of Ireland	female	#448	9	High	Verified
2015	Republic of Ireland	female	#494	8	High	Verified
2014	Republic of Ireland	female	#536	7	High	Verified
2012	Republic of Ireland	female	#907	3	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	female	#59	72	High	Verified
2024	Scotland	male	#727	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Northern Ireland hub — collected by NISRA
Norway hub — collected by Statistics Norway (SSB)
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland
Scotland hub — collected by National Records of Scotland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 5 registrars between 2000 and 2025, ranked in 24 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #59, first reached in 2024.

It held a top-100 place in 4 years, 4 of them consecutive.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 603 births, registered in England and Wales in 2024.

1 registrar publishes it in more than one category list, holding a place in each for at least five years — an observation about those lists rather than about the name.

Its record falls into 3 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 1 year.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2006, and 24 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.

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.

Nour · #321, 45y
Noura · #583, 27y
Novah · #333, 11y
Noya · #2862, 10y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 5 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.

Lainey · #56, 29y
Britney · #66, 29y
Caitlyn · #66, 29y
Lyla · #68, 27y

Also first recorded in the 2000s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 2000 and 2009.

Bodhi · #61, 22y
Myla · #63, 24y
Emrik · #64, 21y
Harlow · #66, 18y

Nova was ranked #59 in Scotland · Girls in 2024. 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.

Nova 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 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Nova without appearing here.

Nova moved ahead of

Cecilie Compare
In 2012 they stood at #3185 and #2636 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2013 that had become #1128 and #5742.
Ellinor Compare
In 2011 they stood at #3185 and #3185 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2012 that had become #1720 and #5876.
Denise Compare
In 2012 they stood at #1720 and #1720 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2013 that had become #1128 and #4739.
Kai Compare
In 2009 they stood at #2326 and #2326 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2010 that had become #2392 and #5707.

Moved ahead of Nova

Harper Compare
In 2004 they stood at #3594 and #4373 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2005 that had become #3970 and #2682.
Éala Compare
In 2018 they stood at #267 and #411 in Republic of Ireland · Girls; by 2019 that had become #271 and #180.
Aria Compare
In 2022 they stood at #88 and #100 in Norway · Girls; by 2023 that had become #108 and #88.

Moved the opposite way to Nova

Abigail Compare
Between 2000 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Nova went from #3912 to #80 while Abigail went from #19 to #154.
Aimee Compare
Between 2000 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Nova went from #3912 to #80 while Aimee went from #72 to #1603.
Aisling Compare
Between 2000 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Nova went from #3912 to #80 while Aisling went from #443 to #2000.
Alex Compare
Between 2000 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Nova went from #3912 to #80 while Alex went from #186 to #2253.

Moved the same way as Nova

Ada Compare
Between 2000 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Nova went from #3912 to #80 and Ada from #1831 to #40.
Alma Compare
Between 2000 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Nova went from #3912 to #80 and Alma from #2416 to #234.
Amalie Compare
Between 2000 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Nova went from #3912 to #80 and Amalie from #3912 to #1128.
Amelia Compare
Between 2000 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Nova went from #3912 to #80 and Amelia from #35 to #2.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 5 regions, from 2000 to 2025. Highest recorded position: #59 in Scotland in 2024. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Nova

Nova at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Nova across 5 official records

Nova by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Nova appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 2000s

Names published alongside Nova

Nova and the names beside it

Nova moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Nova

Moved the opposite way to Nova

Moved the same way as Nova

Nova at a glance

Nova across 5 official records

Nova by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Nova appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 2000s

Names published alongside Nova

Nova and the names beside it

Nova moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Nova

Moved the opposite way to Nova

Moved the same way as Nova