Octavia
Octavia was given to 982 girls in 2025, #308 among girls’ names; 24,117 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 20,100 Americans named Octavia and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (83% of everyone recorded); the median is 21 years old and half are between 5 and 39.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Octavia by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Octavia mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Octavia is “a female given name from Latin, in quiet use since the Middle Ages.” Its etymology gives the sense “the eighth” (octavus).
From Latin Octāvia, feminine form of the gens name Octāvius, from octavus (“the eighth”).
/əkˈteɪ.vi.ə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Octavia?
#308 among girls’ names, 2025
Octavia rose from #1,361 in 2015 to #308 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 0.10 to 0.61 per 1,000.
1,238 babies in 2021, the peak
Octavia peaked in 2021, when 1,238 girls were given it, #248 among girls’ names. The 982 births of 2025 are 79% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 982 | #308 | 0.61 |
| 2024 | 1,074 | #294 | 0.66 |
| 2023 | 1,129 | #279 | 0.70 |
| 2022 | 1,238 | #247 | 0.75 |
| 2021 | 1,238 | #248 | 0.75 |
| 2020 | 930 | #334 | 0.58 |
| 2019 | 852 | #371 | 0.51 |
| 2018 | 737 | #427 | 0.43 |
| 2017 | 505 | #595 | 0.29 |
| 2016 | 260 | #1,019 | 0.15 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 175 | #1,361 | 0.10 |
| 2014 | 71 | #2,529 | 0.04 |
| 2013 | 73 | #2,481 | 0.04 |
| 2012 | 81 | #2,332 | 0.05 |
| 2011 | 72 | #2,529 | 0.04 |
| 2010 | 91 | #2,162 | 0.05 |
| 2009 | 109 | #1,928 | 0.06 |
| 2008 | 117 | #1,842 | 0.06 |
| 2007 | 95 | #2,127 | 0.05 |
| 2006 | 130 | #1,638 | 0.07 |
| 2005 | 162 | #1,348 | 0.09 |
| 2004 | 140 | #1,456 | 0.08 |
| 2003 | 165 | #1,268 | 0.09 |
| 2002 | 196 | #1,087 | 0.11 |
| 2001 | 183 | #1,143 | 0.10 |
| 2000 | 195 | #1,062 | 0.11 |
| 1999 | 205 | #1,001 | 0.12 |
| 1998 | 241 | #877 | 0.14 |
| 1997 | 249 | #833 | 0.14 |
| 1996 | 238 | #839 | 0.14 |
| 1995 | 269 | #756 | 0.15 |
| 1994 | 302 | #695 | 0.17 |
| 1993 | 366 | #619 | 0.20 |
| 1992 | 383 | #596 | 0.21 |
| 1991 | 387 | #590 | 0.21 |
| 1990 | 365 | #617 | 0.19 |
| 1989 | 381 | #574 | 0.21 |
| 1988 | 418 | #528 | 0.23 |
| 1987 | 446 | #485 | 0.26 |
| 1986 | 331 | #584 | 0.19 |
| 1985 | 306 | #619 | 0.18 |
| 1984 | 266 | #658 | 0.16 |
| 1983 | 246 | #691 | 0.15 |
| 1982 | 251 | #700 | 0.15 |
| 1981 | 220 | #754 | 0.13 |
| 1980 | 188 | #833 | 0.11 |
| 1979 | 181 | #860 | 0.11 |
| 1978 | 203 | #761 | 0.13 |
| 1977 | 184 | #817 | 0.12 |
| 1976 | 174 | #801 | 0.12 |
| 1975 | 194 | #744 | 0.13 |
| 1974 | 150 | #870 | 0.10 |
| 1973 | 167 | #793 | 0.11 |
| 1972 | 128 | #953 | 0.08 |
| 1971 | 133 | #963 | 0.08 |
| 1970 | 115 | #1,066 | 0.07 |
| 1969 | 101 | #1,102 | 0.06 |
| 1968 | 73 | #1,297 | 0.04 |
| 1967 | 104 | #1,006 | 0.06 |
| 1966 | 91 | #1,109 | 0.05 |
| 1965 | 83 | #1,183 | 0.05 |
| 1964 | 76 | #1,276 | 0.04 |
| 1963 | 103 | #1,064 | 0.05 |
| 1962 | 77 | #1,263 | 0.04 |
| 1961 | 80 | #1,239 | 0.04 |
| 1960 | 61 | #1,413 | 0.03 |
| 1959 | 70 | #1,286 | 0.03 |
| 1958 | 73 | #1,246 | 0.04 |
| 1957 | 87 | #1,131 | 0.04 |
| 1956 | 72 | #1,231 | 0.04 |
| 1955 | 59 | #1,315 | 0.03 |
| 1954 | 66 | #1,226 | 0.03 |
| 1953 | 63 | #1,222 | 0.03 |
| 1952 | 70 | #1,134 | 0.04 |
| 1951 | 55 | #1,263 | 0.03 |
| 1950 | 50 | #1,297 | 0.03 |
| 1949 | 55 | #1,229 | 0.03 |
| 1948 | 58 | #1,190 | 0.03 |
| 1947 | 37 | #1,569 | 0.02 |
| 1946 | 37 | #1,459 | 0.02 |
| 1945 | 44 | #1,204 | 0.03 |
| 1944 | 38 | #1,303 | 0.03 |
| 1943 | 41 | #1,288 | 0.03 |
| 1942 | 35 | #1,380 | 0.03 |
| 1941 | 42 | #1,160 | 0.03 |
| 1940 | 34 | #1,288 | 0.03 |
| 1939 | 39 | #1,174 | 0.04 |
| 1938 | 51 | #1,005 | 0.05 |
| 1937 | 52 | #978 | 0.05 |
| 1936 | 43 | #1,076 | 0.04 |
| 1935 | 42 | #1,083 | 0.04 |
| 1934 | 48 | #1,002 | 0.05 |
| 1933 | 57 | #901 | 0.06 |
| 1932 | 76 | #780 | 0.07 |
| 1931 | 60 | #894 | 0.06 |
| 1930 | 56 | #989 | 0.05 |
| 1929 | 52 | #1,009 | 0.05 |
| 1928 | 62 | #951 | 0.05 |
| 1927 | 75 | #853 | 0.06 |
| 1926 | 93 | #745 | 0.08 |
| 1925 | 74 | #869 | 0.06 |
| 1924 | 93 | #775 | 0.07 |
| 1923 | 84 | #795 | 0.07 |
| 1922 | 94 | #759 | 0.08 |
| 1921 | 105 | #716 | 0.09 |
| 1920 | 114 | #682 | 0.10 |
| 1919 | 95 | #720 | 0.08 |
| 1918 | 100 | #722 | 0.09 |
| 1917 | 99 | #694 | 0.09 |
| 1916 | 111 | #645 | 0.11 |
| 1915 | 63 | #825 | 0.06 |
| 1914 | 80 | #648 | 0.11 |
| 1913 | 70 | #623 | 0.11 |
| 1912 | 72 | #570 | 0.13 |
| 1911 | 47 | #633 | 0.11 |
| 1910 | 65 | #509 | 0.16 |
| 1909 | 54 | #515 | 0.16 |
| 1908 | 42 | #581 | 0.13 |
| 1907 | 67 | #437 | 0.21 |
| 1906 | 47 | #508 | 0.16 |
| 1905 | 53 | #471 | 0.18 |
| 1904 | 56 | #434 | 0.20 |
| 1903 | 40 | #512 | 0.15 |
| 1902 | 40 | #507 | 0.15 |
| 1901 | 38 | #495 | 0.16 |
| 1900 | 54 | #462 | 0.18 |
| 1899 | 41 | #460 | 0.18 |
| 1898 | 53 | #426 | 0.20 |
| 1897 | 47 | #429 | 0.20 |
| 1896 | 49 | #416 | 0.21 |
| 1895 | 38 | #476 | 0.16 |
| 1894 | 34 | #490 | 0.15 |
| 1893 | 41 | #427 | 0.19 |
| 1892 | 33 | #477 | 0.16 |
| 1891 | 36 | #420 | 0.19 |
| 1890 | 32 | #465 | 0.17 |
| 1889 | 33 | #426 | 0.19 |
| 1888 | 51 | #339 | 0.29 |
| 1887 | 29 | #409 | 0.20 |
| 1886 | 30 | #399 | 0.21 |
| 1885 | 24 | #437 | 0.18 |
| 1884 | 29 | #375 | 0.22 |
| 1883 | 26 | #364 | 0.23 |
| 1882 | 21 | #401 | 0.19 |
| 1881 | 19 | #388 | 0.21 |
| 1880 | 27 | #306 | 0.30 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Octavia a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Octavia has been given almost only to girls: 139 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Octavia: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Octavia, and how old are they?
20,100 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 83% of the 24,117 Americans ever recorded as Octavia. The median Octavia alive today is 21 years old; half are between 5 and 39.
The 2020 Census counted 12,132 people named Octavia (11,944 women and girls, 188 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 14,175 born in the U.S. The Census count is 14% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 233 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 986 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 2,170 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 5,110 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 2,400 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 9,210 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Octavia born?
The states with the most babies named Octavia are Ohio, Texas and California, with 19% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio | 71 | #151 | 1.0× |
| Texas | 57 | #558 | 0.7× |
| California | 54 | #600 | 0.3× |
| Pennsylvania | 48 | #240 | 0.7× |
| Indiana | 48 | #142 | 0.9× |
| Florida | 43 | #439 | 1.0× |
| New York | 40 | #439 | 0.9× |
| Michigan | 38 | #243 | 0.9× |
| Missouri | 38 | #164 | 1.0× |
| Washington | 37 | #199 | 0.7× |
Where Octavia is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Octavia is most over-represented in Louisiana: since 1910 it was given 2.3 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Octavia with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 24,450 babies since 1880, Octavia is the most given (99% of them). In 2025 it was given to 982 of their 987 babies (99%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Octavia
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Octavia and names like it
- Compare Octavia and OctavieBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sOctavia peaked in 2021.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Octavia since 1910.
- Latin namesWiktionary’s origin for Octavia: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2021The year the most babies were named Octavia.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Octavia alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with OMost given first.