Nova Girl
How popular is Nova?
#46 girl name in 2025
4,657 baby girls were named Nova in the US in 2025, making it the 46th most popular girl name. Another 149 boys got the name (#1,305 for boys).
Nova popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #46 for girls (▼ 7 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 4,657 girls, 149 boys |
| 10-year trend | Rising fast (+205% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #213 in 2015, #38 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 2022 (5,927 girls) |
| Highest rank | #32 in 2021 (2 years at that rank) |
| First recorded | 1885 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 5% boys, 95% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 3% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Nova counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Nova family of names ranked #54 for girls in 2025 (#46 the year before), with 4,906 babies in all.
| Spelling | Girls in 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Nova | 4,657 | 95% |
| Novah | 249 | 5% |
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Nova is most popular
Babies named Nova per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- Wyoming: 10.3 per 1,000 (44 girls)
- Delaware: 8.7 per 1,000 (99 girls)
- Mississippi: 8.0 per 1,000 (373 girls)
- Hawaii: 7.3 per 1,000 (84 girls)
- Alaska: 7.3 per 1,000 (63 girls)
Nova by decade
| Decade | Baby girls | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 52 | #629 |
| 1890s | 187 | #586 |
| 1900s | 279 | #624 |
| 1910s | 629 | #674 |
| 1920s | 891 | #690 |
| 1930s | 657 | #756 |
| 1940s | 369 | #1,088 |
| 1950s | 283 | #1,640 |
| 1960s | 402 | #1,298 |
| 1970s | 589 | #1,341 |
| 1980s | 360 | #1,704 |
| 1990s | 289 | #2,527 |
| 2000s | 1,221 | #1,105 |
| 2010s | 18,057 | #51 |
| 2020s | 31,518 | #32 |
Girl names about as popular as Nova
Questions
- Is Nova a boy or girl name?
- Nova is mostly a girl name. Over the last 10 years, 95% of babies named Nova were girls.
- How popular is the name Nova?
- 4,657 baby girls were named Nova in the US in 2025, making it the 46th most popular girl name. Another 149 boys got the name (#1,305 for boys).
- When was Nova most popular?
- Nova peaked in 2022, when 5,927 girls were given the name. Its highest rank was #32, held for 2 years starting in 2021.
- How many people are named Nova?
- 59,010 babies have been named Nova in the US since 1880. We estimate about 55,920 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 6.
- Where is Nova most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Nova was most common in Wyoming, at 10.3 of every 1,000 girls born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.