Javi
Nickname for Xavier derived from the Basque form of the Latin name meaning "bright" or "new house".
Name Census estimates that about 588 living Americans carry the first name Javi. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Javi today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Javi births was 2023 (77 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Javi. 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
588
~ 1 in 582,916 Americans
Peak year
2023
77 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,016
Tracked since 1988
Popularity
Javi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Javi from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 296 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Javi 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 Javi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Javis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Texas, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Javi, while North Carolina, Florida, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 24 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Javi
The name Javi is a diminutive form of the Spanish name Javier, which is derived from the Basque name Xabier. The Basque name Xabier originated from the medieval Navarrese municipality of Javier, located in the valley of Navarre in northern Spain. This place name is believed to come from the Basque word "etxaberri," which means "new house."
The name Javi gained popularity in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries due to the influence of Saint Francis Xavier, a 16th-century Jesuit missionary and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. Saint Francis Xavier, whose birth name was Francisco de Jaso y Azpilicueta, was born in 1506 in the Kingdom of Navarre and adopted the name Xavier after the municipality where he was born.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Javi can be found in the 16th-century Spanish novel "Lazarillo de Tormes," where a character named Javier is mentioned. Another notable historical figure with the name Javi was Javier Pérez de Guzmán, a Spanish nobleman and military leader who lived in the 15th century.
Throughout history, several influential figures have borne the name Javi or its variants. One of the most famous is Francisco de Javier, better known as St. Francis Xavier, the Catholic missionary who was born in 1506 and died in 1552. Another notable figure is Javier Solana, a Spanish physicist and politician who served as the Secretary-General of NATO from 1995 to 1999 and the European Union's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy from 1999 to 2009.
In the realm of sports, Javier Hernández, a Mexican professional soccer player who plays as a striker for the LA Galaxy, was born in 1988. Javier Sotomayor, a Cuban former track and field athlete who specialized in the high jump and set the world record in 1993, was born in 1967. Javier Clemente, a Spanish former professional football player and manager, was born in 1950.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Javi or its variants, highlighting the rich cultural and historical significance of this name.
People
Javi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Javi as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Javi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Javi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 588 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Javi 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 582,916 US residents.
Is Javi a common name?
We classify Javi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 592 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Javi most popular?
The single biggest year for Javi was 2023, when 77 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Javi is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Javi a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Javi 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.
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.