Girl's name
Nova
Say it NOH-vuh
Latin origin new
2 syllables
Where Nova is loved, common and rare
Common across the Netherlands, Sweden, British Columbia and three more places. Rare in Norway, Northern Ireland, three German cities and six more places.
1 in 320 girls born in Scotland in 2025
The Netherlands 36thSweden 42ndBritish Columbia 45th
LovedCommonRare
Every place
In 17 of the 40 official lists, among them the Netherlands (36th), Sweden (42nd) and British Columbia (45th).
Show all 17 placesShow less
| Place | Rank | Girls | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Netherlands | 36th 2025 | 324 | about 1 in 188 |
| Sweden | 42nd 2025 | 217 | about 1 in 185 |
| British Columbia province | 45th 2023 | 48 | about 1 in 249 |
| England and Wales | 68th 2025 | 650 | 1 in 390 |
| Scotland | 74th 2025 | 56 | 1 in 320 |
| Ontario province | 80th 2024 | 121 | about 1 in 450 |
| Norway | 118th 2025 | 47 | 1 in 464 |
| Northern Ireland | 121st 2025 | 17 | 1 in 429 |
| Cologne city | 159th 2023 | 7 | about 1 in 878 |
| Quebec province | 171st 2025 | 33 | about 1 in 788 |
| Ireland | 180th 2025 | 26 | 1 in 813 |
| Berlin city | 277th 2023 | 11 | about 1 in 1,319 |
| Switzerland | 353rd 2025 | 20 | 1 in 1,700 |
| France | 699th 2025 | 55 | 1 in 5,214 |
| Austria | 1026th 2025 | 3 | 1 in 11,907 |
| Italy | 1219th 2024 | 7 | 1 in 25,596 |
| Leipzig city | 212th 2025 | 2 | about 1 in 1,312 |
Rare, below the listed names: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, New Zealand, Munich, Bonn, Rostock, Spain, Catalonia, Poland, Hungary, Slovenia and Israel.
Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Denmark (top 50), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Estonia (top 25), Moscow (top 61), Turkey (top 30), Argentina (top 20) and Croatia (top 50).
Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. German figures here are city lists (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock), never the country.
Sources: Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) (the Netherlands); Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency) (Sweden); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (British Columbia); Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); National Records of Scotland (Scotland); Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (Ontario); Statistics Norway (SSB) (Norway); NISRA (Northern Ireland); Stadt Köln, Standesamt (offenedaten-koeln.de) (Cologne); Retraite Québec (Banque de prénoms, Données Québec) (Quebec); Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Ireland); BerlinOnline GmbH; Landesamt für Bürger- und Ordnungsangelegenheiten (LABO) / Standesämter (Berlin); Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland); INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (France); Statistik Austria (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1) (Austria); ISTAT, Contanomi (Italy); Stadt Leipzig, Standesamt (opendata.leipzig.de) (Leipzig). How we count, and every source
About the name
Latin nova means 'new', and the name takes the word as it is. It is a short, modern-sounding name with a very old word behind it.
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Two syllables, NOH-vuh, give it a clean, open sound. No spelling variants are listed.
Nova ranks well in British Columbia, England and Wales, and Scotland, and is used in the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway. The Ontario and British Columbia records first show it in 1983 and place its peak in 2022. It is rising in nine places while falling in only one, so it remains a name of the current generation. Its brevity and clear meaning let it sit comfortably in many languages.
Meaning, origin, pronunciation
- Pronounced
- NOH-vuh, 2 syllables
- Meaning
new
- Origin
- Latin
Over time
Over five years: rising in 9 of 15 regions, falling in 1.
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Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.
Ten years of ranks
Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.
| Region | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| England and Wales | 400 | 273 | 207 | 186 | 144 | 101 | 91 | 81 | 80 | 68 |
| Scotland | 223 | 201 | 113 | 97 | 134 | 135 | 62 | 70 | 59 | 74 |
| Northern Ireland | 440 | 238 | 263 | 228 | 237 | 243 | 178 | 101 | 121 | |
| Ireland | 448 | 289 | 267 | 271 | 410 | 190 | 232 | 364 | 171 | 180 |
| Ontario | 150 | 130 | 98 | 99 | 82 | 72 | 67 | 93 | 80 | |
| British Columbia | 82 | 57 | 53 | 56 | 59 | 39 | 40 | 45 | ||
| Quebec | 730 | 485 | 514 | 330 | 310 | 230 | 276 | 180 | 259 | 171 |
| France | 2573 | 2565 | 1989 | 1668 | 1393 | 1106 | 981 | 1034 | 831 | 699 |
| The Netherlands | 23 | 20 | 24 | 27 | 34 | 28 | 40 | 43 | 36 | |
| Austria | 1916 | 1320 | 1331 | 1047 | 851 | 758 | 660 | 644 | 678 | 1026 |
| Switzerland | 646 | 640 | 371 | 430 | 404 | 547 | 444 | 342 | 308 | 353 |
| Berlin | 458 | 419 | 657 | 435 | 378 | 361 | 426 | 277 | ||
| Munich | 200 | |||||||||
| Cologne | 615 | 599 | 349 | 449 | 320 | 266 | 213 | 159 | ||
| Bonn | 168 | 176 | 168 | |||||||
| Leipzig | 263 | 406 | 262 | 163 | 357 | 212 | ||||
| Rostock | 199 | 174 | 158 | |||||||
| Norway | 150 | 158 | 130 | 121 | 105 | 91 | 86 | 105 | 94 | 118 |
| Sweden | 25 | 22 | 22 | 27 | 29 | 31 | 40 | 43 | 45 | 42 |
| Italy | 1556 | 1856 | 1219 |
England and Wales, 2000 to 2025
| Year | Rank | Girls | per 100,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 68 | 650 | 256.6 |
| 2024 | 80 | 603 | 233.7 |
| 2023 | 81 | 579 | 225.7 |
| 2022 | 91 | 539 | 204.5 |
| 2021 | 101 | 506 | 184.6 |
| 2020 | 144 | 352 | 131.1 |
| 2019 | 186 | 267 | 95.3 |
| 2018 | 207 | 251 | 87.1 |
| 2017 | 273 | 179 | 59.8 |
| 2016 | 400 | 112 | 36.5 |
| 2015 | 525 | 82 | 26.6 |
| 2014 | 794 | 49 | 16.0 |
| 2013 | 1128 | 31 | 10.1 |
| 2012 | 1720 | 17 | 5.3 |
| 2011 | 3185 | 7 | 2.2 |
| 2010 | 2392 | 10 | 3.1 |
| 2009 | 2326 | 10 | 3.2 |
| 2008 | 3860 | 5 | 1.6 |
| 2007 | 4294 | 4 | 1.3 |
| 2006 | 2320 | 9 | 3.0 |
| 2005 | 3970 | 4 | 1.4 |
| 2003 | 3594 | 4 | 1.4 |
| 2001 | 2466 | 6 | 2.2 |
| 2000 | 3912 | 3 | 1.1 |
Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.
Ontario and British Columbia since 1925
Half of the babies named Nova in Ontario and British Columbia since 1925 were born in or after 2019. First recorded in 1983. Her peak year there: 2022, at 306.1 per 100,000 girls.
Babies named Nova per 100,000 girls born in Ontario and British Columbia, by five-year period. Her 2022 peak is averaged into its five-year period, so the line sits below it.
Sources: Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (1917-2024), OGL-Ontario; BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (1924-2023), OGL-BC.
Sister names for Nova
1 in 1,106 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Nova.
1 in 3,838 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Nova.
1 in 183 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Nova.
1 in 298 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Nova.
1 in 1,112 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Nova.
1 in 344 in England and Wales
Rose and fell with Nova.
1 in 320 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Nova.
1 in 754 in Ireland
Rose and fell with Nova.
1 in 1,627 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Nova.
1 in 852 in Scotland
Rose and fell with Nova.
Middle names for Nova
1 in 57 in Northern Ireland
Nova Grace
2-1 beats · initials NG
Changes the beat after Nova: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 71 in Scotland
Nova Olivia
2-4 beats · initials NO · Nova slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Nova: 2 syllables, then 4 syllables. Nova slides into Olivia: vowel meets vowel.
1 in 99 in Scotland
Nova Sophia
2-3 beats · initials NS
Changes the beat after Nova: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 311 in Ireland
Nova Maria
2-3 beats · initials NM
Changes the beat after Nova: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 214 in Northern Ireland
Nova Rose
2-1 beats · initials NR
Changes the beat after Nova: 2 syllables, then 1 syllable.
1 in 78 in Northern Ireland
Nova Emily
2-3 beats · initials NE · Nova slides into Emily: vowel meets vowel.
Changes the beat after Nova: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables. Nova slides into Emily: vowel meets vowel.
1 in 491 in Ireland
Nova Julia
2-3 beats · initials NJ
Changes the beat after Nova: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
1 in 1,286 in England and Wales
Nova Miriam
2-3 beats · initials NM
Changes the beat after Nova: 2 syllables, then 3 syllables.
Same style as Nova
Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.
1 in 852 in Scotland
91% alike: moves with Nova across countries and decades.
1 in 924 in England and Wales
90% alike: moves with Nova across countries and decades.
1 in 587 in Ireland
90% alike: moves with Nova across countries and decades.
1 in 688 in Scotland
90% alike: moves with Nova across countries and decades.
1 in 438 in England and Wales
90% alike: moves with Nova across countries and decades.
1 in 607 in Northern Ireland
90% alike: moves with Nova across countries and decades.
1 in 716 in Scotland
90% alike: moves with Nova across countries and decades.
1 in 280 in Northern Ireland
90% alike: moves with Nova across countries and decades.
Famous people named Nova
Nova Peris and Nova Pilbeam.
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Australian politician, hockey player and sprinter born 1971
-
British actress (1919-2015)
People: Wikidata (CC0), linked to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists.
Questions about Nova
5 questions, on how popular she is, what it means, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.
Show all 5 questionsShow less
How popular is Nova?
Her best rank is No. 36 in the Netherlands in 2025, about 1 in 188 girls. She is in the published lists of 17 of our 40 regions.
What does Nova mean?
Wiktionary glosses Nova as "new".
How do you pronounce Nova?
NOH-vuh, with 2 syllables.
Is Nova getting more popular?
Over five years: rising in 9 of 15 regions, falling in 1.
Which sister names go with Nova?
The deck's top five sisters for Nova: Vienna, Camilla, Esme, Thea and Mira. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.