Ahava
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "love".
Name Census estimates that about 404 living Americans carry the first name Ahava. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ahava today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ahava births was 2023 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ahava. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ahava with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
404
~ 1 in 848,402 Americans
Peak year
2023
32 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,289
Tracked since 1998
Census
Ahava in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 281 people with the first name Ahava, which placed it at #30,797 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#30,797
National first-name rank
People counted
281
281 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ahava
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ahava is White at 60.5%. The next largest groups are Black (16.0%) and Hispanic (13.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ahava described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ahava at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.5% · 170
- Black or African American16.0% · 45
- Hispanic or Latino13.2% · 37
- Two or more races7.5% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Ahava: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ahava from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 182 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ahava remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ahava by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ahava during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ahavas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Ahava, while California, Florida, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ahava
The name Ahava originates from the Hebrew language and culture, with its earliest known usage dating back to ancient times. The name is derived from the Hebrew word "ahavah," which means "love" or "affection." This suggests that the name was likely given to children with the hope of imbuing them with the qualities of love and compassion.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ahava can be found in the Old Testament of the Bible. In the Book of Ezra, there is a mention of a place called "Ahava," which is believed to be a river or a town where the Israelites gathered before their journey to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile.
Throughout history, the name Ahava has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded examples is Ahava ben Yaakov, a Jewish scholar who lived in the 12th century and wrote commentaries on various Jewish texts. Another notable figure was Ahava ben Menachem, a prominent rabbi and Talmudic scholar from the 16th century.
In more recent times, Ahava has been the name of several influential figures. Ahava Emunah Lange (1825-1915) was a prominent Jewish educator and author who founded several schools for Jewish girls in Germany and wrote extensively on Jewish education. Ahava Zelda Tarmu (1890-1968) was an Israeli politician and one of the signatories of the Israeli Declaration of Independence.
Other notable individuals with the name Ahava include Ahava Leibtag (1907-1986), an Israeli poet and translator known for her works in Hebrew and Yiddish literature, and Ahava Eilam-Amitai (born 1956), an Israeli politician and former member of the Knesset (Israeli parliament).
While the name Ahava has its roots in ancient Hebrew culture, it has transcended its origins and gained popularity in various parts of the world, particularly among Jewish communities. The name's association with love and affection has likely contributed to its enduring appeal over the centuries.
People
Ahava + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ahava as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ahava: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ahava?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 404 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ahava going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 848,402 US residents.
Is Ahava a common name?
We classify Ahava as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 408 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ahava most popular?
The single biggest year for Ahava was 2023, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ahava is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ahava in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 281 people with the name Ahava, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,797 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ahava in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ahava?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ahava leans strongly female. 274 people counted with this name were female (97.2%), compared with 8 male bearers (2.8%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ahava?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ahava is White at 60.5%. The next largest groups are Black (16.0%) and Hispanic (13.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ahava most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ahava in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.5% (170 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ahava in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ahava a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ahava in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ahava still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ahava in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ahava can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Ahava?
Want to know how many Americans are named Ahava? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.