Diva
Female given name with Sanskrit roots meaning "celestial nymph" or "divine woman".
Name Census estimates that about 576 living Americans carry the first name Diva. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Diva today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Diva births was 1993 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Diva. 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.
People living today
576
~ 1 in 595,060 Americans
Peak year
1993
24 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,988
Tracked since 1917
Popularity
Diva: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Diva from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 150 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Diva remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Diva 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 Diva during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Divas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Diva
The name Diva originated from the Sanskrit word "deva", which means "divine" or "heavenly". The word diva was derived from the feminine form of deva, "devi", meaning "goddess". It first appeared in ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, often referring to celestial beings or deities.
In ancient India, the term diva was used as a respectful form of address for noble or divine women. It was also used as an epithet for goddesses and female deities in Hinduism, Buddhism, and other Indian religions. The name's association with divinity and celestial beings reflects its roots in ancient Indian culture and mythology.
The earliest recorded use of the name Diva can be traced back to the 6th century BCE. It was mentioned in the epic Sanskrit poem, the Mahabharata, as the name of a celestial nymph. In Hindu mythology, Diva was also the name of a celestial dancer who performed for the gods.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Diva. One of the earliest was Diva Haririze (c. 900 CE), a renowned Persian poet and scholar from the Samanid Empire. Another notable Diva was Diva Gujri (1598-1678), a Sufi mystic and poet from the Mughal Empire in India.
In the 19th century, Diva Sahiba (1835-1858) was a prominent Indian freedom fighter who played a significant role in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against British rule. More recently, Diva Ramasamy (1902-1983) was a Tamil writer, activist, and social reformer from Sri Lanka.
While the name Diva has its roots in ancient Indian languages and mythology, it has gained popularity globally as a given name, often associated with strong, confident, and talented women. However, its earliest and most significant historical references can be traced back to ancient Hindu texts and Indian culture.
People
Diva + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Diva 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
Diva: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Diva?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 576 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Diva 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 595,060 US residents.
Is Diva a common name?
We classify Diva as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 626 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Diva most popular?
The single biggest year for Diva was 1993, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Diva is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Diva a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Diva 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.
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.