Octavien
Derived from the Latin "octavus" meaning "eighth," a masculine given name.
Name Census estimates that about 23 living Americans carry the first name Octavien. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Octavien today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Octavien births was 2003 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Octavien. 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 Octavien. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
23
~ 1 in 14,902,363 Americans
Peak year
2003
7 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2008 SSA rank
#12,155
Tracked since 1997
Popularity
Octavien: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Octavien from the 1990s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 18 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
Octavien 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 Octavien 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 Octavien
The name Octavien is derived from the Latin name Octavianus, which means "the eighth". This name originated during the ancient Roman era and is associated with the Roman imperial dynasty.
The name Octavianus was first adopted by the Roman emperor Augustus, who was born Gaius Octavius in 63 BC. Augustus was the first Roman emperor and his reign marked the beginning of the Roman Empire. The name Octavianus was given to him by his great-uncle Julius Caesar, as he was the eighth child in their family line.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Octavien can be found in the historical records of the early Christian Church. Saint Octavien was a 3rd-century bishop of Barcelona and is venerated as a martyr by the Catholic Church.
In the Middle Ages, the name Octavien was used in various European regions, particularly in France and Italy. During this time, it was often associated with nobility and high social status.
One notable figure who bore the name Octavien was Octavien de Saint-Gelais, a French poet and diplomat who lived from 1468 to 1502. He served as the Bishop of Angoulême and was a prominent figure in the literary circles of his time.
Another famous Octavien was Octavien de Valence, a 13th-century French nobleman and military leader who participated in the Eighth Crusade to the Holy Land.
In the 16th century, Octavien Petit was a French Catholic theologian and philosopher who played a significant role in the Counter-Reformation movement.
During the 17th century, Octavien de Saint-Gelais de Lusignan was a French nobleman and military commander who served in the Thirty Years' War.
Octavien Guibert, born in 1774, was a French general and military engineer who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.
People
Octavien + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Octavien 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
Octavien: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Octavien?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 23 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Octavien 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 14,902,363 US residents.
Is Octavien a common name?
We classify Octavien as "Very Rare". It ranks above 42.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 23 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Octavien most popular?
The single biggest year for Octavien was 2003, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Octavien is about 22 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 Octavien in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Octavien a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Octavien 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 Octavien still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Octavien 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 Octavien 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 Americans are named Octavien?
Find out how many Americans are named Octavien on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.