How rare is the name Alva?

7,273 people in the United States have the first name Alva, about 1 in 41,528. It ranks #3,047 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

ALVA

#3,047

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
7,273
About
1 in 41,528
This common or more
81.5%
Who bears it

Of the 7,273 people named Alva, 50.5% reported their origin as White, 28.1% as Hispanic or Latino and 15.8% as Black. 61.3% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Alva peaked in 1917, when 478 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1917
Births that year
478
In 2025*
28 ▼94%
Recorded as
used for both

At least 20,158 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Alva by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #375. The largest share of babies named Alva, 38.8%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#375845
1890s#3871,164
1900s#4731,179
1910s#5233,382
1920s#6134,142
1930s#7032,866
1940s#9482,091
1950s#1,3591,514
1960s#1,805998
1970s#2,613608
1980s#3,759437
1990s#6,662261
2000s#10,726184
2010s#8,775262
2020s#6,824225
Before 190110.7%
Greatest Generation 1901–2738.8%
Silent Generation 1928–4524.2%
Baby boom 1946–6414.4%
Generation X 1965–805.5%
Millennials 1981–962.9%
Generation Z 1997–121.4%
2013 and later2.2%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Alva is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Alva has been most common in Oklahoma (5.7×), West Virginia (4.6×), and Kentucky (3.5×), and least common in Maryland (0.25×).

9,891 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Exactly as common as Alva

1 other first name also has 7,273 people.

#3,047 Jayceon · 7,273

Either side of Alva

#3,045 Yanet · 7,277#3,046 Yanira · 7,274#3,047 Jayceon · 7,273#3,049 Edwardo · 7,269

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Alva, most common first.

#1,518 Alba · 21,789#14,230 Alpa · 831#15,259 Alfa · 757#18,842 Alvah · 568#20,915 Alvia · 490#31,475 Alvi · 272#34,742 Aliva · 234#40,999 Alvy · 180

Also a last name

As a last name, Alva ranks #5,730 of 156,621, with 5,823 people. See Alva as a last name

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