Daiva
Of Sanskrit origin, meaning divine goddess or heavenly one.
Name Census estimates that about 43 living Americans carry the first name Daiva. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Daiva today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Daiva births was 1955 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Daiva. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Daiva. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
43
~ 1 in 7,971,031 Americans
Peak year
1955
8 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2023 SSA rank
#15,714
Tracked since 1950
Census
Daiva in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 457 people with the first name Daiva, which placed it at #21,974 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
#21,974
National first-name rank
People counted
457
457 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
91.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Daiva
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daiva is White at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Black (3.7%) and Hispanic (2.4%). 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 Daiva 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 Daiva at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.5% · 418
- Black or African American3.7% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 5
- Two or more races0.9% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Daiva: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Daiva from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 25 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Daiva 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 Daiva during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Daiva
The name Daiva has its roots in Lithuanian culture and language, originating in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is derived from the Lithuanian word "dievas," meaning "god" or "deity," suggesting a connection to divine or spiritual realms.
In ancient Lithuanian mythology, Daiva was a goddess associated with the sun, fertility, and the cycle of life. Her name was revered and invoked during rituals and celebrations related to agriculture and the changing seasons. The name Daiva can be traced back to the pre-Christian era in the Baltic region, where pagan traditions and beliefs were deeply rooted.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Daiva can be found in the Lithuanian Chronicles, a collection of historical documents dating back to the 13th century. These chronicles document the lives and deeds of prominent individuals bearing the name, often referring to them as "Daiva" or variations thereof.
Throughout history, several notable figures have carried the name Daiva. One such individual was Daiva Grybauskaitė, a Lithuanian politician who served as the President of Lithuania from 2009 to 2019. Born in 1956, she was a prominent figure on the international stage and played a crucial role in shaping Lithuania's post-Soviet era.
Another noteworthy bearer of the name was Daiva Woskova, a Lithuanian-American artist and sculptor born in 1949. Her works, which often explored themes of identity and cultural heritage, have been exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States and Europe.
In the realm of literature, Daiva Markevicius, a Lithuanian-American writer and poet born in 1957, gained recognition for her poetic explorations of language, identity, and the immigrant experience. Her works have been widely published and celebrated within literary circles.
Moving further back in time, records suggest that Daiva Gedrimaite, a 15th-century noblewoman from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, played a significant role in the political and cultural dynamics of her era. Her influence and legacy are documented in historical accounts from that period.
The name Daiva also appears in ancient Lithuanian folklore and oral traditions, where it is often associated with the personification of natural elements and the cycle of life. These stories and legends have been passed down through generations, preserving the name's connection to the rich cultural heritage of the Baltic region.
People
Daiva + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Daiva as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Daiva: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Daiva?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 43 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Daiva 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 7,971,031 US residents.
Is Daiva a common name?
We classify Daiva as "Very Rare". It ranks above 52.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 53 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Daiva most popular?
The single biggest year for Daiva was 1955, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Daiva is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Daiva in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 457 people with the name Daiva, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,974 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 Daiva 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 Daiva?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Daiva leans strongly female. 451 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 7 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Daiva?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Daiva is White at 91.5%. The next largest groups are Black (3.7%) and Hispanic (2.4%). 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 Daiva most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Daiva in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.5% (418 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 Daiva in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Daiva a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Daiva 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 Daiva still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Daiva 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 Daiva 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 have the name Daiva?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Daiva, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.