Alva
Appears in the Hebrew Bible as a man's name among the Edomites, and separately as a Scandinavian feminine of Alf, from a word for elf.
Alva in 2025
Alva was given to 28 babies in the United States in 2025 — 6 boys and 22 girls, making it the 8,262nd most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 118,405 babies born.
The history of Alva
Alva reached its highest point in 1917, when 478 babies were given the name, ranking 512th that year. Its best-ever ranking was 301st, in 1882.
Across the 146 years of records since 1880, 20,158 babies have been named Alva. Half of them were born before 1928, which places the name's centre of gravity with the Silent Generation.
Alva by decade
| Decade | Babies named Alva | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 845 | 301 |
| 1890s | 1,164 | 356 |
| 1900s | 1,179 | 425 |
| 1910s | 3,382 | 479 |
| 1920s | 4,142 | 568 |
| 1930s | 2,866 | 633 |
| 1940s | 2,091 | 804 |
| 1950s | 1,514 | 1,126 |
| 1960s | 998 | 1,604 |
| 1970s | 608 | 2,112 |
| 1980s | 437 | 2,809 |
| 1990s | 261 | 4,746 |
| 2000s | 184 | 6,982 |
| 2010s | 262 | 6,676 |
| 2020s | 225 | 5,432 |
Where Alva is heading
Alva has risen 12% over the past decade, from 25 babies in 2015 to 28 in 2025.
Names like Alva
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Alva.