Geneva
Masculine
Geneva is given to girls far more often — 88,758 girls against 309 boys since 1880. See Geneva as a girl name
Geneva entered the US charts in 1912, peaked at #1981 in 1926, is rarely given in 2025 — given to only a few children a year.
How old is the name Geneva?
Geneva first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Geneva alive today was born around 1928, making them about 97 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Geneva are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Geneva most popular?
Geneva peaked in 1926, reaching #1981 nationally. See the whole 1926 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
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
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 192616 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1981reached in 1926
- Change vs 1965
- −16.7%5 in 1968, from 6
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
Genevas among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Geneva are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Geneva sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
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What they receive
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Geneva
Masculine
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. Fewer than a hundred people named Geneva are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Geneva in 2025?
- Geneva is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Geneva with classmates?
- Geneva will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More G names
The most-given names starting with G, all years combined.
George#126 · Gary#1073 · Gregory#593 · Gerald#1204 · Gabriel#37 · Glenn#1443 · Gavin#303 · Gordon#1051
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Geneva? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Geneva and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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