Tava
A feminine name of Polynesian origin meaning "sojourn" or "journey".
Name Census estimates that about 430 living Americans carry the first name Tava. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Tava today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tava births was 2000 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tava. 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.
People living today
430
~ 1 in 797,103 Americans
Peak year
2000
18 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2022 SSA rank
#15,118
Tracked since 1947
Popularity
Tava: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tava from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 113 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tava 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 Tava 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 Tava
The name Tava has its origins in the ancient Sumerian language, one of the earliest known languages in the world, dating back to around 3500 BC. It is believed to be derived from the Sumerian word "tavah," which means "to create" or "to build." This suggests that the name may have been given to individuals who were involved in construction or artisanal work.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Tava can be found in Sumerian cuneiform inscriptions from the city-state of Uruk, located in present-day Iraq. These inscriptions mention a person named Tava-ili, who was a high-ranking official during the reign of the Sumerian king Gilgamesh, around 2700 BC.
In ancient Mesopotamian mythology, Tava was also the name of a minor deity associated with craftsmanship and creativity. This deity was often invoked by artisans and builders to seek blessings for their work.
The name Tava gained popularity among the Akkadian and Babylonian civilizations that followed the Sumerians. One notable figure in Babylonian history was Tava-nuna, a scribe and scholar who lived during the reign of King Hammurabi in the 18th century BC. Tava-nuna is credited with compiling a comprehensive collection of Sumerian and Akkadian proverbs and wisdom literature.
In the ancient Indian subcontinent, the name Tava appears in various forms, such as Tava, Thava, or Thavalu. It was often used as a name for boys, particularly in the southern regions of India. One famous bearer of this name was Tava Naidu, a prominent freedom fighter and political activist who played a significant role in India's struggle for independence from British rule in the early 20th century. He was born in 1891 and died in 1953.
Another notable individual with the name Tava was Tava Shenava, an Armenian architect and engineer who lived in the 18th century. He was renowned for his innovative architectural designs and played a crucial role in the construction of several churches and cathedrals in Armenia.
In more recent times, the name Tava has been used by individuals from various cultural backgrounds, although it remains relatively uncommon. One example is Tava Smiley, an American singer and songwriter who was active in the 1970s and 1980s. She is best known for her soul and R&B music.
People
Tava + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tava as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tava: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tava?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 430 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tava 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 797,103 US residents.
Is Tava a common name?
We classify Tava as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 460 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tava most popular?
The single biggest year for Tava was 2000, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tava is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Tava a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Tava 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.