# Nova (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/nova/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Latin |
| Meaning | “new” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 59,010 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 3,227 / 55,783 (95% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 4,475, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Latin nova (“new”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 295 | 886 |
| 2012 | 463 | 618 |
| 2013 | 567 | 527 |
| 2014 | 1,136 | 287 |
| 2015 | 1,529 | 213 |
| 2016 | 2,286 | 136 |
| 2017 | 3,057 | 94 |
| 2018 | 4,174 | 55 |
| 2019 | 4,332 | 51 |
| 2020 | 5,006 | 38 |
| 2021 | 5,574 | 32 |
| 2022 | 5,927 | 32 |
| 2023 | 5,282 | 35 |
| 2024 | 5,072 | 39 |
| 2025 | 4,657 | 46 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 41 | 2,887 |
| 2012 | 63 | 2,148 |
| 2013 | 79 | 1,824 |
| 2014 | 104 | 1,545 |
| 2015 | 129 | 1,356 |
| 2016 | 152 | 1,232 |
| 2017 | 230 | 921 |
| 2018 | 254 | 866 |
| 2019 | 259 | 857 |
| 2020 | 317 | 758 |
| 2021 | 277 | 851 |
| 2022 | 271 | 879 |
| 2023 | 237 | 954 |
| 2024 | 176 | 1,179 |
| 2025 | 149 | 1,308 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 7 | 3,185 |
| 2012 | 17 | 1,720 |
| 2013 | 31 | 1,128 |
| 2014 | 49 | 794 |
| 2015 | 82 | 525 |
| 2016 | 112 | 400 |
| 2017 | 179 | 273 |
| 2018 | 251 | 207 |
| 2019 | 267 | 186 |
| 2020 | 352 | 144 |
| 2021 | 506 | 101 |
| 2022 | 539 | 91 |
| 2023 | 579 | 81 |
| 2024 | 603 | 80 |
| 2025 | 650 | 68 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 3 | 4,685 |
| 2014 | 3 | 4,632 |
| 2015 | 10 | 2,150 |
| 2016 | 11 | 2,027 |
| 2017 | 11 | 2,052 |
| 2018 | 16 | 1,533 |
| 2019 | 17 | 1,439 |
| 2020 | 16 | 1,492 |
| 2021 | 25 | 1,117 |
| 2022 | 26 | 1,084 |
| 2023 | 26 | 1,108 |
| 2024 | 14 | 1,758 |
| 2025 | 18 | 1,466 |

## People named Nova

- Nova Peris, Australian politician, hockey player and sprinter
- Nova Widianto, badminton player
- Nova Pilbeam, British actress (1919-2015)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.