Girls' name · peaked in 2022
Nova name popularity since 1925
57,317 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Nova (94.5% girls, 5.5% boys). Half of them were born in 2020 or earlier, so the typical Nova is about 6 years old in 2026. Nova peaked in 2022 as the #32 name for girls, and it ranked #46 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 57,317
- Named Nova, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #46
- for girls in 2025 (4,657 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 94.5% girls
- 54,179 girls · 3,138 boys
- Most popular in
- Nevada
- 2.79× its national share
Peak year is the year Nova made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Nova births per year, 1925–2025
2022 was the biggest year for Nova both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 2011 and 2016, Nova became 7.7× more common, from 1 in 5,960 baby girls to 1 in 775.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Nova's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Nova.
Decade by decade
Babies named Nova in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 434 | 16 | – |
| 1930s | 657 | 25 | #804 |
| 1940s | 369 | 24 | #1,612 |
| 1950s | 283 | 6 | #1,660 |
| 1960s | 402 | 0 | #1,977 |
| 1970s | 589 | 23 | #1,686 |
| 1980s | 360 | 18 | #2,579 |
| 1990s | 289 | 39 | #4,638 |
| 2000s | 1,221 | 212 | #1,889 |
| 2010s | 18,057 | 1,348 | #213 |
| 2020–25 | 31,518 | 1,427 | #46 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
89.4% of babies named Nova from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Gen Alpha years (2013–2025). The full split by generation:
Where Nova is most popular
The index compares Nova's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Nova.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Nevada | 2.79× | 534 |
| Georgia | 1.63× | 2,410 |
| Florida | 1.60× | 3,097 |
| North Carolina | 1.54× | 2,338 |
| Oklahoma | 1.48× | 1,031 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Nova and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Nova (this page) | 54,179 | 2022 |
| Novah | 3,469 | 2020 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Nova's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Nova.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Nova (2022).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data