Genavieve
Feminine
Geneviève talked Paris out of running. Attila's army was moving toward the city in the fifth century and the population was preparing to flee; she persuaded them to stay, and the Huns turned south. Paris has kept her as its patron ever since. The a in this American spelling replaces a first e that nobody actually pronounces.
How old is the name Genavieve?
Genavieve first appears in US birth records in 1984 — 41 years ago. The typical Genavieve alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 800 people named Genavieve are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Genavieve most popular?
Genavieve peaked in 2011, reaching #3303 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 9,905 places below that high. See the whole 2011 chart.
Where it comes from
From Genovefa to Genavieve
The story of Genavieve
Genovefa was a Gallo-Roman woman of the fifth century who is credited with organizing Paris through the Hunnic threat and later through a siege, and she became the city's patron. Her shrine survived until the Revolution; the church built over it is now the Panthéon. The name spread through France and, in the twentieth century, into the English-speaking world, where the accents disappeared. The a-spelling is American and does what respellings usually do — it writes an unstressed vowel the way it sounds rather than the way tradition requires.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The name is Germanic and its elements have never been settled. The first is usually read as a word for kin or family, and the second as one meaning woman — but both readings are contested, and the Celtic alternative that some scholars prefer is no better established. A name carried for fifteen hundred years with no agreed meaning is unusual, and it is worth saying plainly rather than filling the gap.
How the name formed
- Genovefa
- Geneviève
- Genevieve
- Genavieve
Related forms: Geneviève · Genoveva · Genoveva · Genoveffa · Genowefa
Pronouncing Genavieve
JEN-uh-veev
Three syllables, stress on the first. French says it in four with the weight at the back — zhuh-nuh-vee-EV — which is a substantially different name to the ear. The a in this spelling sits in the unstressed second syllable, where nothing is heard either way.
Nicknames for Genavieve
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
- 1984
- Most girls named
- 201149 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3303reached in 2011
- Change vs 2024
- −66.7%6 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.
Genavieve in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Geneviève in French — same name
- Genoveva in German — same name
- Genoveva in Spanish — same name
- Genoveffa in Italian — same name
- Genowefa in Polish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Genavieves among us
people named Genavieve are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Genavieve
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 Reid test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Genavieve's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Reid climbed just as high around 1994, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Reid's path sketches the road Genavieve is walking now.
Genavieve 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
Genavieve beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Genavieve in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three excellent and quite different short forms are available.
- It has a documented fifth-century figure behind it with a memorable and verifiable role.
- The name is standard across half of Europe, so it travels without translation.
- It is long and formal in a way that gives a child room to grow into it.
- Genevieve is the standard spelling and will be substituted on nearly everything.
- The French pronunciation and the American one share very little, which matters if the family has French relatives.
- Its meaning cannot be given, and the ones printed in name books are guesses dressed as findings.
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What they receive
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Genavieve
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Genavieves are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Genavieve are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Genavieve in 2025?
- Genavieve ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Genavieve?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Genavieve — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Genavieve with classmates?
- Genavieve will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Genavieve
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
John#13208 · Vinnie#13208 · Margery#13208 · Jossie#13208 · Tressa#13208 · Erie#13208 · Bernadine#13208 · Euna#13208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Genavieve? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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