Alva
A feminine name of possible Spanish origin meaning "awakened".
Name Census estimates that about 5,529 living Americans carry the first name Alva. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 56.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Alva today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alva births was 1917 (478 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alva. 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 Alva with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Alva sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
5.5K
~ 1 in 61,992 Americans
Peak year
1917
478 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,465
Tracked since 1880
Census
Alva in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,278 people with the first name Alva, which placed it at #3,046 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
#3,046
National first-name rank
People counted
7.3K
7,278 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alva
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alva is White at 50.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.1%) and Black (15.8%). 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 Alva 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 Alva at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.5% · 3,674
- Hispanic or Latino28.1% · 2,044
- Black or African American15.8% · 1,149
- Two or more races2.3% · 168
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 142
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 101
Gender
Gender distribution for Alva
Alva is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 20,130 total registrations, 11,263 (56.0%) were male and 8,867 (44.0%) were female.
Alva as a male name
- Ranked #8,991 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1917 (317 births)
Alva as a female name
- Ranked #4,465 in 2024
- 31 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1918 (196 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Alva on both sides of the split. Of the 7,273 people counted with this name, 2,816 were male (38.7%) and 4,457 were female (61.3%).
Popularity
Alva: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alva from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 4,142 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alva 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 Alva during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alvas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio recorded the most babies named Alva, while Utah, Montana, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 267 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alva
The name Alva has its origins in the Germanic languages and can be traced back to the Old Norse word "alfr," meaning "elf." It was initially a masculine name but later gained popularity as a feminine name as well.
In ancient Norse mythology, elves were considered supernatural beings associated with nature, magic, and wisdom. The name Alva was likely given to children with the hope of bestowing upon them the attributes associated with these mystical creatures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Alva can be found in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems compiled in the 13th century. It mentions an elf named Alvíss, which is a masculine form of the name.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Alva. One of the most famous was Alva Vanderbilt Belmont (1853-1924), an American socialite, women's rights activist, and major supporter of the suffrage movement in the early 20th century.
Another notable Alva was Alva Myrdal (1902-1986), a Swedish sociologist, diplomat, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1982. She was recognized for her work on nuclear disarmament and global governance.
In the realm of science, Alva Edison (1847-1924) was the younger brother of the renowned inventor Thomas Edison. Although not as famous as his brother, he played a significant role in the development of several of Thomas Edison's inventions.
The name Alva also found its way into the literary world. Alva Tressler (1868-1937) was an American author and educator, known for her children's books and textbooks on hygiene and health education.
Lastly, Alva R. Fitch (1907-1989) was an American military officer who served in World War II and the Korean War. He received the Distinguished Service Cross, the second-highest military decoration in the United States, for his acts of valor during combat operations.
These examples demonstrate the diverse backgrounds and achievements of individuals who have carried the name Alva throughout history, reflecting its rich heritage and enduring appeal.
People
Alva + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alva 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
Alva: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alva?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,529 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alva 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 61,992 US residents.
Is Alva a common name?
We classify Alva as "Rare". It ranks above 96.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 20,130 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alva most popular?
The single biggest year for Alva was 1917, when 478 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alva is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alva in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,278 people with the name Alva, or 2.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,046 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 Alva 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 Alva?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Alva on both sides of the split. Of the 7,273 people counted with this name, 2,816 were male (38.7%) and 4,457 were female (61.3%). 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 Alva?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alva is White at 50.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (28.1%) and Black (15.8%). 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 Alva most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Alva in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.5% (3,674 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 Alva in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alva a male name?
Yes, 56.0% of people registered as Alva in the SSA data are male. 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 Alva still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alva 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 Alva 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 are called Alva?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.