Nava
Nava is a modern feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "new or young".
Name Census estimates that about 1,392 living Americans carry the first name Nava. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nava today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nava births was 2023 (78 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nava. 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
- • Nava is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 246,232 Americans
Peak year
2023
78 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,677
Tracked since 1923
Popularity
Nava: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nava from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 608 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nava remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nava 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 Nava during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Navas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Nava, while Massachusetts, Georgia, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 66 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nava
The name Nava has its origins in Sanskrit, the ancient language of India. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "nava," meaning "new" or "fresh." This name has been used for both males and females in various parts of the Indian subcontinent for centuries.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Nava can be found in Hindu scriptures, particularly in the Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. In the epic, Nava is mentioned as a prince and warrior.
Historically, the name Nava has been associated with royalty and nobility in India. One notable bearer of this name was Nava Narasingh, a powerful king who ruled the Kalinga Empire (present-day Odisha, India) in the 7th century CE. He was known for his military conquests and patronage of arts and culture.
Another famous historical figure with the name Nava was Nava Karan, a renowned scholar and astrologer who lived during the reign of the Gupta Empire in the 5th century CE. His contributions to the field of astrology and astronomy were significant, and he is credited with writing several influential texts on the subjects.
In more recent times, Nava Nalor was an influential Indian reformist and social activist who fought against the caste system and advocated for women's rights in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Other notable individuals with the name Nava include Nava Shrivatsa, an Indian mathematician and astronomer from the 9th century CE, and Nava Prabhakar, a celebrated Indian classical dancer and choreographer of the 20th century.
While the name Nava has its roots in ancient India, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among people of Indian descent or those interested in Sanskrit names and their meanings.
People
Nava + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nava as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nava: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nava?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,392 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nava 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 246,232 US residents.
Is Nava a common name?
We classify Nava as "Rare". It ranks above 92% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,428 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nava most popular?
The single biggest year for Nava was 2023, when 78 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nava is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Nava a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nava 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.