Envy
Feminine · “envy”
Envy is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 713 girls against 5 boys since 1880.
Envy is one of the seven deadly sins, and the word records exactly what the sin was thought to be: Latin invidere means to look upon, and to look at someone in a particular way was to wish them ill. It is a hard word to hand a child, and the families who choose it generally know that.
How old is the name Envy?
Envy first appears in US birth records in 1999 — 26 years ago. The typical Envy is a kid of about 12 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Envy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Envy most popular?
Envy peaked in 2012, reaching #3711 nationally. Today it ranks #5099, 1,388 places below that high. See the whole 2012 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From invidere to Envy
The story of Envy
English took the word from French in the thirteenth century, and it has been one of the standard sins ever since Gregory the Great fixed the list in the sixth century. As a given name it appears in American records from the two-thousands, part of a small set of names taken from words that are not compliments, alongside Reign, Legend and Chaos, and generally chosen for the sound and the boldness rather than the sense. It is used almost entirely for girls.
Meaning
envy; resentment at another's good
Latin invidia, from invidere, to look against or look upon with malice. The idea of the evil eye sits inside the word: envy in Latin is a way of looking, which is why it is bound up with the belief that a hostile glance can do harm.
How the name formed
- invidere
- invidia
- envie
- envy
Related forms: Envie · Envidia
Pronouncing Envy
EN-vee
Two syllables, stress in front, exactly as the word. There is no other reading.
Nicknames for Envy
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
- 1999
- Most girls named
- 201242 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3711reached in 2012
- Change vs 2024
- +38.9%25 in 2025, from 18
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.
Envy in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Envie in French — related form
- Envidia in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Ohio, Texas.
Envys among us
people named Envy are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 64,291 born in 2025 was named Envy
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Felissa test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Envy's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Felissa climbed just as high around 1970, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Felissa's path sketches the road Envy is walking now.
Envy 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
Where Envy is headed
Envy is easing off slowly — about 20% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Envy beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Envy in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Everyone can spell it and say it after hearing it once.
- The etymology, a way of looking, is genuinely interesting to explain.
- Vee works as a softer everyday form for anyone who wants one.
- The word names something nobody admires, and that will be said out loud to the child at some point.
- It is in constant everyday use, so the name turns up in ordinary sentences.
- A name chosen for boldness puts the burden of the boldness on the person carrying it.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Envy to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Envy
Feminine · #5099 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Envys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Envy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Envy in 2025?
- Envy ranks #5099 among US girl names in 2025, with 25 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Envy?
- About 1 in every 64,291 US girls born in 2025 was named Envy — 25 in all.
- Will my child share the name Envy with classmates?
- Envy will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Envy
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Janette#5099 · Loraine#5099 · Delfina#5099 · Hali#5099 · Mecca#5099 · Zoi#5099 · Afia#5099 · Emelie#5099
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Envy? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Envy and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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