# Olive (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/olive/  
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 | not recorded |
| Meaning | “olive” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 67,320 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 394 / 66,926 (99% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 7,707, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Medieval form of the Latin saint's name Oliva "olive"; revived in the 19th century when flower and plant names became fashionable. The surname is topographical, often representing an Anglicization of continental European surnames such as Spanish Oliva.

## What it means

Olive is grouped under olive.

## 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 | 763 | 415 |
| 2012 | 860 | 365 |
| 2013 | 1,097 | 291 |
| 2014 | 1,152 | 281 |
| 2015 | 1,212 | 264 |
| 2016 | 1,162 | 273 |
| 2017 | 1,253 | 256 |
| 2018 | 1,232 | 268 |
| 2019 | 1,435 | 214 |
| 2020 | 1,491 | 196 |
| 2021 | 1,636 | 182 |
| 2022 | 1,836 | 159 |
| 2023 | 1,651 | 180 |
| 2024 | 1,789 | 170 |
| 2025 | 1,597 | 197 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1936 | 8 | 2,791 |
| 1937 | 8 | 2,835 |
| 1938 | 6 | 3,425 |
| 1943 | 5 | 3,910 |
| 1945 | 6 | 3,222 |
| 1948 | 6 | 3,574 |
| 1957 | 6 | 3,863 |
| 2010 | 5 | 13,722 |
| 2016 | 9 | 8,629 |
| 2017 | 6 | 11,809 |
| 2020 | 6 | 11,619 |
| 2021 | 6 | 11,760 |
| 2022 | 5 | 13,798 |
| 2023 | 6 | 11,873 |
| 2025 | 7 | 10,398 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 139 | 343 |
| 2012 | 191 | 260 |
| 2013 | 216 | 233 |
| 2014 | 255 | 210 |
| 2015 | 312 | 176 |
| 2016 | 368 | 148 |
| 2017 | 362 | 151 |
| 2018 | 457 | 120 |
| 2019 | 469 | 109 |
| 2020 | 510 | 99 |
| 2021 | 691 | 74 |
| 2022 | 648 | 74 |
| 2023 | 776 | 57 |
| 2024 | 834 | 53 |
| 2025 | 892 | 47 |

## People named Olive

- Olive Thomas, American silent film actress, model (1894–1920)
- Olive Borden, American actress (1906–1947)
- Olive Deering, American actress (1918–1986)
- Olive Tell, American actress (1894-1951)
- Olive Carey, American actress (1896–1988)
- Olive McKean, American swimmer, Olympic bronze medalist, coach (1915-2006)
- Olive Morris, British community leader and Black feminist activist (1952-1979)
- Olive Lembe di Sita, former First Lady of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Olive Dennis, American engineer (1885-1957)
- Olive Oatman, American living in Mormon, Tolkepaya, and Mohave societies after childhood kidnapping
- Olive Ann Alcorn, American actor, model and dancer (1900-1975)
- Olive Ann Beech, American businesswoman

## 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.