How rare is the name Nova?

21,292 people in the United States have the first name Nova, about 1 in 14,185. It ranks #1,541 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

NOVA

#1,541

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
21,292
About
1 in 14,185
This common or more
75.5%
Who bears it

Of the 21,292 people named Nova, 50.8% reported their origin as White, 17.9% as Black and 16% as Hispanic or Latino. 92.3% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Nova peaked in 2022, when 6,198 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2022
Births that year
6,198
In 2025*
4,806 ▼22%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 59,010 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.

Nova by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #93. The largest share of babies named Nova, 86.8%, were born in 2013 or later.

1880s#1,63557
1890s#1,120187
1900s#1,078279
1910s#1,336668
1920s#1,363952
1930s#1,526682
1940s#2,337393
1950s#3,248289
1960s#2,937402
1970s#2,603612
1980s#4,098378
1990s#5,687328
2000s#2,5811,433
2010s#37319,405
2020s#9332,945
Before 19010.5%
Greatest Generation 1901–272.8%
Silent Generation 1928–451.9%
Baby boom 1946–641.2%
Generation X 1965–801.5%
Millennials 1981–960.8%
Generation Z 1997–124.6%
2013 and later86.8%

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 Nova is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Nova has been most common in Nevada (3×), Delaware (1.7×), and Florida (1.7×), and least common in District of Columbia (0.43×).

53,587 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.

Either side of Nova

#1,539 Issac · 21,365#1,540 Milo · 21,333#1,542 Mickey · 21,288#1,543 Sondra · 21,227

Spelled almost the same

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

#19,075 Novia · 560#35,030 Novi · 231

Also a last name

As a last name, Nova ranks #10,077 of 156,621, with 3,050 people. See Nova as a last name

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