Novak
An Old Slavic name meaning "newcomer" or "new settler".
Name Census estimates that about 351 living Americans carry the first name Novak. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Novak today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Novak births was 2023 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Novak. 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 Novak with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
351
~ 1 in 976,508 Americans
Peak year
2023
32 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,565
Tracked since 2008
Census
Novak in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 287 people with the first name Novak, which placed it at #30,385 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
#30,385
National first-name rank
People counted
287
287 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Novak
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Novak is White at 75.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.2%) and Black (4.2%). 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 Novak 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 Novak at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.6% · 217
- Hispanic or Latino12.2% · 35
- Black or African American4.2% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 11
- Two or more races3.5% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 2
Popularity
Novak: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Novak 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 207 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Novak remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Novak 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 Novak during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Novaks live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Illinois, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Novak, while California, Florida, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Novak
The name Novak has its origins in the Slavic languages, particularly in the Czech and Slovak regions. It can be traced back to the 14th century and is derived from the word "nový," meaning "new." This suggests that the name was initially given to someone who was a newcomer or a recent arrival to a particular area or community.
In its earliest recorded instances, the name Novak appeared as a surname or a descriptive nickname, often referring to a person's occupation or place of origin. As surnames became more prevalent, Novak gradually transitioned into being used as a given name, particularly in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Novak was a Czech theologian and writer named Novak of Zápóř, who lived in the late 14th century. He is known for his works on philosophical and religious topics, which were influential during the Hussite Reformation in Bohemia.
Another notable figure was Novak Dukić, a Serbian military leader who played a significant role in the Ottoman-Serbian Wars in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. He was a prominent figure in the resistance against Ottoman rule and is celebrated as a national hero in Serbian history.
In the 16th century, Novak Nejedlý was a renowned Czech composer and music theorist. He is considered one of the founders of the Czech polyphonic style and contributed significantly to the development of sacred music in the region.
Fast-forwarding to the 19th century, Novak Radonić was a Serbian writer and playwright who was instrumental in the Serbian National Revival movement. His works aimed to promote Serbian culture and national identity during a time of Ottoman rule.
In more recent history, Novak Djokovic, born in 1987, is a Serbian professional tennis player widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time. He has won numerous Grand Slam titles and has held the world No. 1 ranking for a record number of weeks.
While the name Novak has its roots in the Slavic languages, it has gained recognition and popularity across various cultures and regions, reflecting the rich tapestry of human history and the migration of names across borders.
People
Novak + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Novak 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
Novak: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Novak?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 351 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Novak 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 976,508 US residents.
Is Novak a common name?
We classify Novak as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 354 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Novak most popular?
The single biggest year for Novak was 2023, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Novak is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Novak in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 287 people with the name Novak, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,385 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 Novak 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 Novak?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Novak leans strongly male. 268 people counted with this name were male (94.0%), compared with 17 female bearers (6.0%). 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 Novak?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Novak is White at 75.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.2%) and Black (4.2%). 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 Novak most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Novak in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.6% (217 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 Novak in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Novak a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Novak 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.
Is Novak still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Novak 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 Novak 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 Novak as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Novak on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.