Nova
Feminine · Latin roots · “New" (Latin)”
Nova is given to both — 55,783 girls and 3,227 boys since 1880. See Nova as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Nova is simply the Latin word for "new," and astronomers borrowed it for a star that suddenly flares into brightness. Two syllables, five letters, nothing silent or optional — it lands almost the same way in every language that has met it. Its use as a given name in America is more than a century old, though the wave carrying it now is very recent indeed.
How old is the name Nova?
Nova first appears in US birth records in 1885 — 140 years ago. The typical Nova is a kid of about 3 — this name's wave is very recent. About 52,500 people named Nova are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nova most popular?
Nova peaked in 2021, reaching #32 nationally. Today it ranks #46, 14 places below that high. See the whole 2021 chart.
Where it comes from
From novus (Latin, "new") to Nova
The story of Nova
The word is Latin: novus, "new," with nova as its feminine form, still living on in Italian and Portuguese as the everyday word for "new." The Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe fixed it in scientific language with De nova stella, his 1573 account of the brilliant star that had appeared in Cassiopeia the previous year; later astronomers clipped stella nova down to nova, and it has meant a suddenly bright star ever since. The same adjective named Nova Scotia — New Scotland — when the Latin grant was made in 1621. As a personal name it sat quietly in American records for generations before the recent surge, and it now charts in Scotland, Canada, and England & Wales as well.
Meaning
"New" (Latin); also, in astronomy, a star that suddenly brightens
Nova is the feminine form of the Latin adjective novus, "new." The star sense comes from the same word and is the reason most English speakers recognize it.
How the name formed
- novusLatin, "new"
- novafeminine form
- stella nova"new star"
- Nova
Related forms: Nova · Nova · Novella · נובה · Нова
Pronouncing Nova
NOH-vuh
Stress on the first syllable. In Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking households the final vowel is usually fuller: NOH-vah.
Nicknames for Nova
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
- 1885
- Most girls named
- 20225,927 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #32reached in 2021
- Change vs 2022
- −21.4%4,657 in 2025, from 5,927
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.
Nova in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Nova in Latin — same name
- Nova in Portuguese — same name
- Novella in Italian — related form
- נובה in Hebrew — transliteration
- Нова in Russian — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida. International figures from National Records of Scotland, Statistics Canada, Office for National Statistics. Sources
Novas among us
people named Nova are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 345 born in 2025 was named Nova
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 Theresa test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Nova's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Theresa climbed just as high around 1956, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Theresa's path sketches the road Nova is walking now.
Nova is coming down from a big peak (#32 in 2021). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Nova is headed
Nova 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.
Nova beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nova in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way it sounds and read correctly on the first try by almost anyone literate in English.
- A real Latin word with a documented meaning, so the answer to "what does it mean?" is short and certain.
- Already in use in Scotland, Canada, and England & Wales, and pronounceable in Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian.
- Short enough to need no nickname, while still offering Novie for family use.
- In Spanish, "no va" means "doesn't go" — the old joke about the Chevy Nova car. It rarely comes up in practice, but the name is strongest in Texas, California, and Florida, so it is worth knowing about in advance.
- Nearly everyone carrying this name right now is a small child, so it reads as very much of this moment. There are few adult Novas to grow up alongside, and the name will likely be date-stamped to this era.
- It appears on both boys' and girls' pages, but as one word-name traveling two ways rather than two separate names meeting. A boy named Nova will be the rarer case by a wide margin, and will do some explaining.
- The word also belongs to a car model and a long-running public television science series — recognizable references, neither of them a burden.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Nova
Feminine · Latin roots · #46 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Novas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 52,500 people named Nova are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Nova in 2025?
- Nova ranks #46 among US girl names in 2025, with 4,657 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Nova?
- About 1 in every 345 US girls born in 2025 was named Nova — 4,657 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nova with classmates?
- Nova will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nova
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Naomi#47 · Emilia#45 · Riley#48 · Willow#44 · Eloise#49 · Mila#43 · Elena#42 · Sadie#50
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nova? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nova and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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