Octavia
Meaning
eighth-born (Latin); Roman and British aristocratic name
Goes by Tavi
The story
Octavia is Latin for the eighth-born, a Roman house name that Britain's aristocracy kept polished, and its modern American life belongs to a writer: Octavia Butler, whose science fiction outgrew every label and whose readership has only compounded since her death. The record wobbled around a thousand a decade for a century, rose with the 1980s, dipped, and then caught fire: about 2,900 in the 2010s and already 6,600 so far this decade, more than double the full 2010s with years to run, exactly the years Butler's novels returned to the bestseller lists; decade buckets point, they do not convict. Tavi waits inside as the literary short form, as our nickname records note. In our records it goes to girls about 23,700 to 140, all girls this decade. The eighth child is rare now; the name has stopped counting and started meaning.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Octavia peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
141 people · the #32,449 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 1,000,000 · median age 35
Among people named Octavia living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1930s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 45 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Octavia
Most people given the name Octavia in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Octavia deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Octavia truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Octavia fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Nicknames for Octavia · British and London baby names · Names of poets and writers
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