Tavia
Feminine · “Latin "eighth”
Octavia was the woman at the center of the most famous love triangle in Roman history. She was Augustus's sister, married to Mark Antony as a political settlement, and by every ancient account behaved impeccably while he was in Egypt — which is why Shakespeare could do so little with her.
How old is the name Tavia?
Tavia first appears in US birth records in 1944 — 81 years ago. The typical Tavia alive today was born around 1993, making them about 32 years old. About 2,400 people named Tavia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Tavia most popular?
Tavia peaked in 1993, reaching #1507 nationally. Today it ranks #7885, 6,378 places below that high. See the whole 1993 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From octavus to Tavia
The story of Tavia
Octavia raised not only her own children by Antony but his children by Fulvia and, after Actium, his children by Cleopatra — an arrangement the sources report without much comment and which is remarkable by any standard. Her dignity was politically useful to her brother, who could contrast it with Antony's conduct, and Roman writers made her an exemplar. Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra gives her a handful of lines and uses her as a measure of what Antony is giving up. The name entered English use in the eighteenth century, and the clipped Tavia is a twentieth-century American form; the figures peak in 1993.
Meaning
Latin "eighth"
From octavus, eighth, the feminine of Octavius — one of the Roman ordinal names alongside Quintus, fifth, and Decimus, tenth. Tavia is a clip of Octavia. Octavian, the future Augustus, was born Gaius Octavius; his sister Octavia married Mark Antony in 40 BC as part of a settlement between the two men.
How the name formed
- octavus
- Octavia
- Tavia
Related forms: Octavia · Ottavia · Octavia
Pronouncing Tavia
TAY-vee-uh
Three syllables, stress on the first. Octavia is ok-TAY-vee-uh with the stress on the second; clipping the front moves the weight.
Nicknames for Tavia
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
- 1944
- Most girls named
- 1993104 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1507reached in 1993
- Change vs 2024
- +62.5%13 in 2025, from 8
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.
Tavia in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Octavia in English — related form
- Ottavia in Italian — related form
- Octavia in Spanish — related form
Tavias among us
people named Tavia are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 123,636 born in 2025 was named Tavia
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 Charlyne test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Tavia's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Charlyne climbed just as high around 1946, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Charlyne's path sketches the road Tavia is walking now.
Tavia 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
Tavia beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Tavia in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The Latin meaning is settled and has been stable for two millennia.
- Via works as a short form and stands alone.
- It is soft, three syllables and easy to say.
- It reads as a clipping of Octavia to anyone who knows that name.
- The meaning, eighth, does not describe most bearers.
- The 1990s peak dates a bearer fairly clearly.
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What they receive
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Tavia
Feminine · #7885 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Tavias are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,400 people named Tavia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Tavia in 2025?
- Tavia ranks #7885 among US girl names in 2025, with 13 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Tavia?
- About 1 in every 123,636 US girls born in 2025 was named Tavia — 13 in all.
- Will my child share the name Tavia with classmates?
- Tavia will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Tavia
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ola#7885 · Loula#7885 · Consuelo#7885 · Santa#7885 · Florentina#7885 · Marty#7885 · Jaye#7885 · Dollie#7885
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Tavia? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Tavia and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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