Olivia (name)

Olivia
Olivia from William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night by Edmund Blair Leighton, 1896.
Pronunciation/oʊˈlɪviə/[1]
GenderFeminine
Language(s)English
Name dayApril 15 (Sweden)

May 29 (Finland) (Greece)

June 10 (Italy)
Origin
Language(s)Latin
Meaningolive, olive tree, "peace"
Other names
Pet form(s)Liv, Livi, Livvy, Ollie, Olly, Livia, Livy, Livvie, Livie, Livvi, Olz
Related namesOliva, Olive, Oliver
Olivia Langdon Clemens (1845–1904), wife of the American author Mark Twain, in 1869
English and American actress Olivia de Havilland (1916–2020), in 1938
English actress Olivia Hussey in 1974
Australian actress Olivia Newton-John (1948–2022), in 1978
American singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo in 2021

Olivia is a feminine given name in the English language. It is derived from Latin oliva, olive. Both Oliva and Olivia were Latinate forms in use in English-speaking countries as early as the 13th century. Olive was in common use as a vernacular form.[2] Though not invented by William Shakespeare, the name was popularized by a character in Twelfth Night.[3]

Usage of the name in the 20th and 21st centuries has been influenced by popular culture, including the popularity of the actress Olivia Newton-John in the 1970s and of Olivia Kendall, a child character played by actress Raven-Symoné on the American television sitcom The Cosby Show. Olivia has been a popular name throughout the English-speaking world since the mid-1990s, and is also well used throughout Europe and South America.[4][5][6][7]

In 2022, in the United States, the name Olivia was given to 16,573 girls, ranking it as the most popular name.[8] That same year, it was also the most popular name given to girls in Canada.[9]

  1. ^ "Olivia". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  2. ^ Uckelman, Sara L. (September 2019) [7-3], "Names Shakespeare Didn't Invent: Imogen, Olivia, and Viola Revisited", Names: A Journal of Onomastics, 67 (3): 153–159{{citation}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  3. ^ Rotulorum Originalium in Curia Scaccarii Abbreviatio. Vol. 1: Temporibus Regum Hen. III (1, 2 ed.). Command of His Majesty King George III. 1805. p. 95b.
  4. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 210, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1
  5. ^ Cassell, Amy (November 1, 2021). "Most popular baby names of 2021". babycenter. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  6. ^ "REVEALED: The top Aussie baby names for 2021". 7NEWS. May 12, 2021. Retrieved March 24, 2022.
  7. ^ "Meaning, origin and history of the name Olivia".
  8. ^ "Popular Names in 2022 – USA". Baby Names. Retrieved April 10, 2024.
  9. ^ "Table 17-10-0147-01 First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators (Number)". Statistics Canada. Retrieved August 25, 2024.