Geneva
Feminine
Geneva is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 88,758 girls against 309 boys since 1880.
Geneva is a city on a lake, and its name is older than any language now spoken there — a Celtic or pre-Celtic word that Rome recorded and never explained.
How old is the name Geneva?
Geneva was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Geneva alive today was born around 1930, making them about 95 years old. About 29,000 people named Geneva are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Geneva most popular?
Geneva peaked in 1920, reaching #106 nationally. Today it ranks #1652, 1,546 places below that high. See the whole 1920 chart.
Geneva appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Genava to Geneva
The story of Geneva
Geneva was a center of the Reformation under Calvin, and its name carried real weight for Protestant families — the Geneva Bible was the English translation most read before the King James. Nineteenth-century American families used place names freely, and Geneva appears in the registers from the 1870s, rising to a peak around 1920.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
The Swiss city's name is recorded by Caesar as Genava and is generally taken to be Celtic, possibly from a root meaning 'mouth' or 'bend', from the outflow of the lake. It is not established. The given name may also be a shortening of Genevieve, which is a separate Germanic name, or of Guinevere.
How the name formed
- Genava
- Geneva
Related forms: Genève · Ginevra · Geneviève
Pronouncing Geneva
juh-NEE-vuh
Three syllables, stress in the middle. The French Genève is two, said zhuh-NEV.
Nicknames for Geneva
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 19242,582 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #106reached in 1920
- Change vs 2022
- −14.4%125 in 2025, from 146
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.
Geneva in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Genève in French — related form
- Ginevra in Italian — related form
- Geneviève in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Genevas among us
people named Geneva are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 12,858 born in 2025 was named Geneva
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 Mable test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Geneva's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Mable climbed just as high around 1905, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Mable's path sketches the road Geneva is walking now.
Geneva 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 Geneva is headed
Geneva should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
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.
Geneva beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Geneva in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A real and historically weighty city stands behind it.
- Neva and Genny are two short forms at very different registers.
- Three syllables with a strong middle, a rhythm that carries well.
- The city's own name has no recovered meaning.
- The Italian Ginevra is the form used for Guinevere, which causes some confusion.
- It is period-coded to the early twentieth century.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Geneva 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.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Geneva? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Geneva
Feminine · #1652 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Genevas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 29,000 people named Geneva are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Geneva in 2025?
- Geneva ranks #1652 among US girl names in 2025, with 125 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Geneva?
- About 1 in every 12,858 US girls born in 2025 was named Geneva — 125 in all.
- Will my child share the name Geneva with classmates?
- Geneva will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Geneva
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Baker#1652 · Abbie#1652 · Hailie#1652 · Adilene#1652 · Stacy#1652 · Leilah#1652 · Aylen#1652 · Royal#1652
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Geneva? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Geneva 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
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle