Arva
A feminine name of unknown origin, possibly derived from Arabic.
Name Census estimates that about 120 living Americans carry the first name Arva. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Arva today is around 76 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arva births was 1926 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arva. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Arva is about 76 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Arvas were born before 1960.
People living today
120
~ 1 in 2,856,286 Americans
Peak year
1926
24 babies that year
Average age
76
years old
1973 SSA rank
#8,512
Tracked since 1893
Census
Arva in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 319 people with the first name Arva, which placed it at #28,252 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
#28,252
National first-name rank
People counted
319
319 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arva
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arva is White at 52.0%. The next largest groups are Black (28.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.9%). 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 Arva 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 Arva at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.0% · 166
- Black or African American28.2% · 90
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.9% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 13
- Two or more races3.1% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2
Popularity
Arva: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arva from the 1890s through to the 1970s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 160 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
Arva 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 Arva during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arvas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Arva
The name Arva is believed to have its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language, which was the primary language of the Indian subcontinent during the Vedic period, dating back to around 1500-500 BCE. The name is thought to be derived from the Sanskrit word "arva," which means "a horse" or "swift."
Arva was a relatively uncommon name in ancient India, but it did appear in some Hindu religious texts and historical records. One notable figure from ancient times was Arva, a warrior mentioned in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. He was described as a skilled archer and horseman, which aligns with the meaning of the name.
The name Arva also had variations in spelling, such as Arva, Arvah, and Arvah, which were likely regional or linguistic variations. These variants were used in different parts of the Indian subcontinent, reflecting the diversity of languages and cultures in the region.
In the medieval period, the name Arva saw some usage among certain Hindu communities, particularly in the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent. One notable figure from this time was Arva Khair, a 13th-century Hindu poet and scholar from the Delhi Sultanate. His works focused on religious themes and the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita.
Moving into the modern era, the name Arva remained relatively uncommon, but there were a few notable individuals who bore this name. One example was Arva Parsi (1858-1925), an Indian singer and performer from the Parsi community, known for her contributions to the revival of traditional Parsi theater.
Another notable figure was Arva Singh (1914-1986), an Indian civil servant and administrator who served as the Lieutenant Governor of Pondicherry from 1973 to 1978. He played a significant role in the development and administration of the Union Territory during his tenure.
In more recent times, the name Arva has been used sporadically across various parts of the world, although it remains relatively rare. While its usage may have waned over time, the name still carries a unique and intriguing historical connection to the ancient Sanskrit language and the rich cultural heritage of the Indian subcontinent.
People
Arva + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arva 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
Arva: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arva?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 120 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arva 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 2,856,286 US residents.
Is Arva a common name?
We classify Arva as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 552 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arva most popular?
The single biggest year for Arva was 1926, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arva is about 76 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arva in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 319 people with the name Arva, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,252 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 Arva 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 Arva?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arva leans strongly female. 289 people counted with this name were female (91.7%), compared with 26 male bearers (8.3%). 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 Arva?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arva is White at 52.0%. The next largest groups are Black (28.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.9%). 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 Arva most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Arva in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.0% (166 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 Arva in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arva a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arva 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 Arva still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arva 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 Arva 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 Americans are named Arva?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.