Livy
A feminine diminutive form of Olivia, derived from the Latin olivia meaning "olive tree".
Name Census estimates that about 490 living Americans carry the first name Livy. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Livy today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Livy births was 2024 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Livy. 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 Livy with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
490
~ 1 in 699,499 Americans
Peak year
2024
56 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,945
Tracked since 2004
Census
Livy in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 454 people with the first name Livy, which placed it at #22,080 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
#22,080
National first-name rank
People counted
454
454 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Livy
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Livy is White at 68.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.5%) and Black (5.9%). 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 Livy 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 Livy at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.9% · 313
- Hispanic or Latino14.5% · 66
- Black or African American5.9% · 27
- Two or more races5.3% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Livy: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Livy from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 261 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Livy remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Livy 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 Livy during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Livys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, Louisiana, California recorded the most babies named Livy, while California, Louisiana, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Livy
The name Livy is derived from the Latin cognomen "Livius" which was a Roman family name. It is believed to have originated from the word "livor" meaning "a bluish color" or "livid." The earliest recorded bearer of this name was Titus Livius, better known as Livy, the famous Roman historian who lived from 59 BC to 17 AD. His seminal work, "Ab Urbe Condita" (From the Founding of the City), chronicled the history of Rome from its mythical origins to his own time.
Livy was a revered figure in the Roman literary world and his works were widely read and studied throughout the ancient world. In the Middle Ages, his writings were rediscovered and became influential among Renaissance humanists who admired his elegant Latin prose. Many scholars and writers adopted the name Livy as a tribute to the great historian.
One of the most notable figures to bear the name was Tito Livio Frulovisi, an Italian humanist and scholar who lived from 1457 to 1508. He was known for his translations of ancient Greek texts and his advocacy for the study of classical literature. Another prominent bearer of the name was Livy Langdon, an American poet and educator who lived from 1824 to 1876. She was a pioneer in the field of women's education and her poetry explored themes of nature, religion, and national identity.
In the 19th century, Livy Bixby was a well-known American businessman and philanthropist who lived from 1820 to 1903. He made his fortune in the lumber industry and donated generously to educational institutions. The name Livy also gained prominence in the literary world with Livy Schmitt-Michel, a German novelist and playwright who lived from 1903 to 1976. Her works often explored themes of gender, identity, and social change.
Throughout history, the name Livy has been associated with scholars, writers, and intellectuals, reflecting its origins as a Roman cognomen. While not as common as some other names, it has been borne by notable figures across various fields, reminding us of the enduring legacy of the great Roman historian and the significance of his works in shaping Western literature and historiography.
People
Livy + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Livy 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
Livy: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Livy?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 490 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Livy 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 699,499 US residents.
Is Livy a common name?
We classify Livy as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 493 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Livy most popular?
The single biggest year for Livy was 2024, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Livy is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Livy in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 454 people with the name Livy, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,080 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 Livy 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 Livy?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Livy leans strongly female. 421 people counted with this name were female (91.5%), compared with 39 male bearers (8.5%). 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 Livy?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Livy is White at 68.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.5%) and Black (5.9%). 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 Livy most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Livy in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.9% (313 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 Livy in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Livy a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Livy 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 Livy still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Livy 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 Livy 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 Livy?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.