Recorded 1880–2025 · United States
Nova was most popular in 2022, when 6,198 American babies were given the name — ranking #76 that year. In 2025 it ranked #112, with 4,806 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 59,010 people named Nova.
The Social Security Administration’s records begin in 1880, and Nova is already there in that first year — so the name is older than the record and these figures cannot date it. It has been recorded in 142 of the 146 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 59,010 American births named Nova 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 55,721 are estimated to be alive today.
4,806 American babies were named Nova in 2025, ranking #112 that year.
Nova is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 5,524 births a year, against 881 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +527% over the decade.
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 Nova is mostly a girl’s name — 94.5% of the 59,010 Americans given it were girls and 5.5% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 95% girls and 5% 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 55,721 Americans named Nova are alive today — 94% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 6 years old, and half are between 3 and 9. That is a narrow band because Nova is a young name — it only became common recently, so almost everyone carrying it is still a child or a young adult.
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 Nova on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org