Diva
Feminine · “Latin diva”
Diva means goddess and it used to be a job title. English borrowed it from Italian opera in the 1860s, where it simply meant a leading female singer, and it carried no suggestion of temperament at all. The slide from goddess to difficult woman took about a century and is one of the better documented semantic declines in English.
How old is the name Diva?
Diva first appears in US birth records in 1917 — 108 years ago. The typical Diva alive today was born around 1999, making them about 26 years old. About 600 people named Diva are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Diva most popular?
Diva peaked in 1917, reaching #3713 nationally. Today it ranks #8362, 4,649 places below that high. See the whole 1917 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From diva to Diva
The story of Diva
The semantic history is traceable in print. In the 1880s an English writer calling a singer a diva was paying a straightforward compliment about her standing. Through the twentieth century the word acquired an edge, first ironic and then routine, until by the 1980s it was more often a complaint than praise. Then it was reclaimed, at least partly, by popular music, where being a diva became a description of scale and command rather than of behavior. All three senses are now in circulation at once, which makes the word difficult to use without deciding which one you mean. The name's American peak in 1917 sits in the first period, when the operatic sense was current and the pejorative one had not yet arrived, so a child named then was being called a great singer rather than a difficult one.
Meaning
Latin diva, goddess
From Latin diva, the feminine of divus, divine or a god, from the same root as deus and Greek Zeus. Italian used diva of a celebrated opera singer, and English borrowed it in that sense in the nineteenth century. The pejorative sense, a demanding or temperamental performer, is a twentieth-century development and is now the dominant one. It peaks as an American given name in 1917.
How the name formed
- diva
- Diva
Related forms: Diva · Diva
Pronouncing Diva
DEE-vah
Two syllables, stress on the first, long first vowel. Identical to the English noun. The Latin diva has a short i, DIH-wah, since classical Latin v was pronounced as a w.
Nicknames for Diva
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1917
- Most girls named
- 199423 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3713reached in 1917
- Change vs 2024
- −25.0%12 in 2025, from 16
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Diva in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Diva in Italian — same name
- Diva in Portuguese — same name
Divas among us
people named Diva are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 133,939 born in 2025 was named Diva
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Diva sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Diva beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Diva in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and originally entirely complimentary.
- It is short, symmetrical and easy to spell.
- It is used as a name in Italian and Portuguese.
- The modern English sense is largely pejorative.
- It is a common noun and will be read as one.
- The name is strongly associated with the early twentieth century.
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Diva
Feminine · #8362 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Divas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Diva are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Diva in 2025?
- Diva ranks #8362 among US girl names in 2025, with 12 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Diva?
- About 1 in every 133,939 US girls born in 2025 was named Diva — 12 in all.
- Will my child share the name Diva with classmates?
- Diva will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Diva
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lona#8362 · Peggy#8362 · Leda#8362 · Margarette#8362 · Rella#8362 · Evalena#8362 · Vashti#8362 · Nona#8362
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Diva? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Diva and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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