Niva
Feminine · “expression”
Niva is a Hebrew word for expression or utterance, and it is also the Russian word for a sown field — two unrelated languages arriving at the same four letters.
How old is the name Niva?
Niva first appears in US birth records in 1913 — 112 years ago. The typical Niva is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 500 people named Niva are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Niva most popular?
Niva peaked in 1913, reaching #2540 nationally. Today it ranks #3832, 1,292 places below that high. See the whole 1913 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Niva
Ours, offered as ours. Two good words meet here by accident. Hebrew niv is what someone says — the phrase, the turn of expression — and modern Israeli naming took it. Russian niva is a field of standing grain, a word carrying enough weight that a major nineteenth-century literary magazine was named for it. Neither borrowed from the other. A name can be two things at once without either being wrong.
Meaningscholars disagree
expression, utterance; or a sown field
Hebrew niv names a speech or an idiom and gives the modern Israeli name Niva. Russian niva is a cornfield or sown land and was a common literary word. The two are unrelated and both are documented in their own languages.
Pronouncing Niva
NEE-vah
Two syllables, first stressed. Hebrew stresses the last, nee-VAH.
Nicknames for Niva
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
- 1913
- Most girls named
- 202538 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2540reached in 1913
- Change vs 2024
- +40.7%38 in 2025, from 27
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.
Niva in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Niva in Hebrew — same name
- Нива in Russian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, New Jersey, California.
Nivas among us
people named Niva are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 42,297 born in 2025 was named Niva
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
Niva 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 Niva is headed
Niva looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 16% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Niva beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Niva in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two real words in two living languages stand behind it.
- Four letters and two syllables, about as easy to write as a name gets.
- Open vowels make it easy to say in most languages.
- The stress differs between the Hebrew and American readings.
- Niva, Nova and Nieve are all close in an English ear.
- It is rare enough in America that it needs explaining every time.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Niva
Feminine · #3832 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nivas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Niva are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Niva in 2025?
- Niva ranks #3832 among US girl names in 2025, with 38 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Niva?
- About 1 in every 42,297 US girls born in 2025 was named Niva — 38 in all.
- Will my child share the name Niva with classmates?
- Niva will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Niva
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Nohemi#3832 · Yadira#3832 · Quincey#3832 · Yohanna#3832 · Aurielle#3832 · Anslee#3832 · Anagha#3832 · Corrine#3832
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Niva? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Niva and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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