Recorded 1881–2025 · United States
Belva was most popular in 1927, when 184 American babies were given the name — ranking #948 that year. In 2025 it ranked #24,763, with 5 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 7,960 people named Belva.
Belva first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1881, which makes it about 144 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 108 of the 145 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 7,960 American births named Belva between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 2,148 are estimated to be alive today.
5 American babies were named Belva in 2025, ranking #24,763 that year.
Belva is new. It was not recorded at all a decade ago and averaged 5 births a year across 2021–2025.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Belva is a girl’s name — 100.0% of the 7,960 Americans given it were girls and 0.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 2,148 Americans named Belva are alive today — 27% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 77 years old, and half are between 69 and 85.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Belva on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org