Octaviah
A feminine name of Roman origin meaning "the eighth child".
Name Census estimates that about 42 living Americans carry the first name Octaviah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Octaviah today is around 5 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Octaviah births was 2021 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Octaviah. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Octaviah. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
42
~ 1 in 8,160,818 Americans
Peak year
2021
11 babies that year
Average age
5
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,992
Tracked since 2017
Popularity
Octaviah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Octaviah from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 30 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
Octaviah 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 Octaviah during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Octaviah
The name Octaviah has its roots in ancient Rome, derived from the Latin name Octavius. It is believed to have originated from the Latin word "octavus," meaning "eighth," possibly indicating that the bearer was the eighth child born in the family.
During the Roman Republic and Empire, the name Octavius was borne by several prominent figures, including the first Roman Emperor, Octavian, who later took the name Augustus Caesar. Octavian, born in 63 BC, was the grand-nephew of Julius Caesar and played a pivotal role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Octaviah can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Plutarch, who mentioned a woman named Octavia, the daughter of the Emperor Claudius and wife of Nero.
In medieval Europe, the name Octaviah gained popularity among noble families, particularly in England and France. One notable bearer of the name was Octaviah de Valence, a 13th-century English noblewoman and the wife of John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey (1286-1347).
During the Renaissance period, the name Octaviah was associated with intellectualism and the arts. One famous figure was Octaviah Piccolomini (1599-1656), an Italian scholar and philosopher who wrote extensively on ethics and metaphysics.
In the 18th century, Octaviah Walton (1723-1801) was a British botanist and naturalist known for her contributions to the study of plant life in the American colonies.
Moving into the 19th century, Octaviah Sophia Murray (1811-1884) was a British author and advocate for women's rights, publishing several novels and essays promoting education and independence for women.
Another notable bearer of the name was Octaviah Holbrooke (1856-1939), an American social reformer and co-founder of the National Congress of Mothers, which later became the Parent-Teacher Association (PTA).
In the 20th century, Octaviah Ida Canning (1905-1989) was a British botanist and plant collector who made significant contributions to the study of tropical flora, particularly in the regions of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.
While the name Octaviah has its roots in ancient Rome, it has been embraced across various cultures and time periods, often associated with intellectual pursuits, artistic expression, and social reform movements.
People
Octaviah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Octaviah as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Octaviah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Octaviah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 42 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Octaviah 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 8,160,818 US residents.
Is Octaviah a common name?
We classify Octaviah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 42 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Octaviah most popular?
The single biggest year for Octaviah was 2021, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Octaviah is about 5 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Octaviah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Octaviah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Octaviah 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 Octaviah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Octaviah 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 Octaviah 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Octaviah?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Octaviah at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.