How Many People Are Named Nova?
people named Nova are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 6,131 people in the US has this name
Based on 59,010 babies named Nova in Social Security records from 1880 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
💎 Rare
Peak Year
6,198 births
Trend
Rising (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
Derived from Latin novus meaning "new". It was first used as a name in the 19th century.
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Of the babies given the name Nova, 94.5% were girls and 5.5% were boys. The share has stayed close to this since the 1890s: 100% of the babies were girls then and 95.7% in the 2020s.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Nova alive today is about 7 years old, and 96% are under 30. Half of them were between 2 and 8 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Nova first appears in the records in 1880 and was given most often in 2022, to 6,198 babies. In 2025, 4,806 babies got the name. Over the last ten years, the number each year has been rising.
Babies given the name each year, 1880 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Nova never made the top 10 girls' names. Its best rank was #32, in 2021 to 2022, and it was in the top 100 for 9 years, 2017 to 2025. In 2025 it ranked #46.
| Girls | |
|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #46 |
| Best rank | #32 (2021 to 2022) |
| Years in the top 100 | 9 (2017 to 2025) |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #37 in the 2020s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Nova alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Nova were born in California than in any other state: about 4,637 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Nova was given 2.2 times as often in Wyoming, 2 times in Delaware and 1.9 times in Oklahoma.
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