Liv
A feminine Scandinavian name meaning "protection" or "life".
Name Census estimates that about 6,532 living Americans carry the first name Liv. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Liv today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Liv births was 2017 (437 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Liv. 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 Liv with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Liv is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
6.5K
~ 1 in 52,473 Americans
Peak year
2017
437 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#874
Tracked since 1956
Census
Liv in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,163 people with the first name Liv, which placed it at #3,823 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
#3,823
National first-name rank
People counted
5.2K
5,163 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Liv
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Liv is White at 75.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.9%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Liv 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 Liv at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.7% · 3,907
- Hispanic or Latino11.9% · 616
- Two or more races5.8% · 297
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 198
- Black or African American2.4% · 124
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 21
Popularity
Liv: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Liv from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,443 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Liv remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Liv 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 Liv during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Livs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Liv, while Arkansas, South Dakota, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 133 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Liv
The name Liv is a Scandinavian name with origins dating back to the Viking Age in Northern Europe. It is derived from the Old Norse word "lif," which means "life" or "protection." The name was commonly used in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Liv can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, which are a collection of stories and historical accounts written in the 13th and 14th centuries. These sagas often featured characters with names like Liv, reflecting the cultural significance of the name during that time period.
In Norse mythology, Liv was also the name of one of the goddesses associated with fertility and life-giving powers. This connection further solidified the name's association with vitality and resilience in ancient Scandinavian cultures.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Liv. One example is Liv Arnesen, a Norwegian explorer and guide who was born in 1953. She is known for being the first woman to ski solo and unsupported to the South Pole in 1994.
Another famous Liv was Liv Ullmann, a renowned Norwegian actress and director born in 1938. She achieved international acclaim for her performances in numerous Ingmar Bergman films, such as "Persona" and "Cries and Whispers," and was nominated for several Academy Awards.
In the literary world, Liv Strömquist is a Swedish writer and illustrator born in 1978. She is best known for her graphic novels and cartoons that explore feminist themes and social commentary.
Liv Signe Navarsete, born in 1958, is a Norwegian politician who served as the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development from 2005 to 2013. She played a significant role in promoting sustainable development and environmental policies during her tenure.
Liv Lindeland, born in 1945, is a Norwegian singer and actress who gained popularity in the 1960s and 1970s. She represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1968 and has had a successful career in both music and theater.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have carried the name Liv, reflecting its enduring presence and cultural significance in Scandinavian countries and beyond.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Liv
People
Liv + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Liv as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Liv: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Liv?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,532 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Liv 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 52,473 US residents.
Is Liv a common name?
We classify Liv as "Rare". It ranks above 97.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,603 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Liv most popular?
The single biggest year for Liv was 2017, when 437 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Liv is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Liv in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,163 people with the name Liv, or 1.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,823 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 Liv 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 Liv?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Liv appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,162 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Liv?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Liv is White at 75.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.9%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Liv most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Liv in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.7% (3,907 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 Liv in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Liv a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Liv 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 Liv still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Liv 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 Liv 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 named Liv?
Want to know how many people have the name Liv? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.