# Sava (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/sava/  
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 | boys |
| Origin | Aramaic |
| Meaning | “grandfather”, “old man” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 222 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 212 / 10 (5% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 32, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Ancient Greek Σάββας (Sábbas), a spiritual name taken on by Prince Rastko Nemanjić (Saint Sava) upon becoming a monk, from Aramaic סבא (“grandfather, old man”)

## 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 5 | 18,823 |
| 2024 | 5 | 17,276 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 10 | 7,961 |
| 2012 | 8 | 9,557 |
| 2013 | 13 | 6,553 |
| 2014 | 6 | 11,868 |
| 2015 | 6 | 11,846 |
| 2016 | 8 | 9,525 |
| 2017 | 7 | 10,582 |
| 2018 | 12 | 7,050 |
| 2019 | 9 | 8,746 |
| 2020 | 6 | 11,781 |
| 2021 | 12 | 7,025 |
| 2022 | 15 | 6,096 |
| 2023 | 12 | 7,223 |
| 2024 | 13 | 6,761 |
| 2025 | 8 | 9,566 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 4 | 4,294 |
| 2013 | 3 | 5,742 |
| 2024 | 3 | 5,891 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 4,023 |
| 2017 | 5 | 3,449 |
| 2020 | 3 | 4,608 |
| 2021 | 4 | 3,990 |
| 2022 | 3 | 4,789 |
| 2023 | 3 | 4,991 |

## People named Sava

- Saint Sava, first archbishop of Serbs
- Sava II, Archbishop of Serbs
- Sava Sedmochislenik, Bulgarian scholar and saint, 9 c
- Sabbas the Goth, 4th-century Gothic Christian martyr and locally venerated saint from what is now Romania

## 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.