Travolta
A masculinized Italian surname meaning "one who toils through fields".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Travolta. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Travolta today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Travolta births was 1978 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Travolta. 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 Travolta. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
1978
11 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
1978 SSA rank
#3,598
Tracked since 1978
Popularity
Travolta: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Travolta 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 Travolta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 11 | 0 | 11 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Travolta
The name Travolta is believed to have originated from the Latin word "trans" meaning "across" and "volvere" meaning "to roll." This suggests that the name may have been associated with movement or travel in ancient Roman times.
Historians have not found any definitive references to the name Travolta in ancient texts or scriptures. However, some linguists speculate that it could be linked to words like "travoltare" in Italian, which means "to overturn" or "to upset."
The earliest recorded use of the name Travolta dates back to the 15th century in parts of Italy, particularly in the regions of Lombardy and Piedmont. It is possible that the name was initially used as a surname or a nickname before becoming a given name.
One of the earliest known individuals with the first name Travolta was Travolta Ferrero, an Italian painter born in 1492 in Turin, Italy. His works were primarily religious frescoes and altarpieces commissioned by churches in Northern Italy.
In the 17th century, a notable figure named Travolta Viotti was a renowned violinist and composer from Vercelli, Italy. He was born in 1655 and is credited with helping to establish the modern violin technique and style of playing.
The 18th century saw the rise of Travolta Boccherini, an Italian composer and cellist born in 1743 in Lucca, Italy. He is remembered for his numerous string quintets and quintets for strings and guitar, which were popular in the courts of Europe during his lifetime.
In more recent times, the most famous bearer of the first name Travolta is undoubtedly the American actor John Travolta, born in 1954. He rose to fame with his roles in films such as "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease," and has had a long and successful career in Hollywood.
Another notable Travolta was Travolta Genovese, an Italian-American mobster who lived from 1888 to 1969. He was a prominent figure in organized crime and served as the boss of the Genovese crime family in New York City for several decades.
People
Travolta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Travolta 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
Travolta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Travolta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Travolta 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Travolta a common name?
We classify Travolta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Travolta most popular?
The single biggest year for Travolta was 1978, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Travolta is about 50 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 Travolta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Travolta a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Travolta 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 Travolta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Travolta 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 Travolta 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 Travolta?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Travolta at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.