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Octavia

girl name
Origin
Latin
Syllables
4
Peak era
2020s
Today
▲ Rising

Torn between Octavia and another name? Compare them side by side →

Meaning

eighth-born (Latin); Roman and British aristocratic name

Goes by Tavi. See all nicknames

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.

More names with stories →

How popular is Octavia around the world?

In the United States, 6,591 babies were named Octavia between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 8 girls were registered as Octavia in 2017.

Octavia is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Chile, France, England and Wales, Scotland, Argentina, Spain and Brazil.

Octavia crosses languages: it is in the latest top 300 of an English-speaking birth record and of a Spanish-speaking one. The full list: English and Spanish

United States

1 in 3,300

In the United States, 6,591 babies were named Octavia between 2020 and 2025.

1890speak 2020s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Octavia peaked in the 2020s. Octavia went to 175 US babies in 2015 and 982 in 2025, 5.6 times as many. In US birth records Octavia has stayed between 665 and 6,591 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

See the full list for the United States →

South Australia

1 in 2,300 · 2017

In South Australia, 8 girls were registered as Octavia in 2017.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

See the full list for South Australia →

New Zealand

1 in 3,200

In New Zealand, 18 girls named Octavia were registered in 2025.

2010peak 2023

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time

See the full list for New Zealand →

Canada

1 in 3,400

In Canada, 109 girls named Octavia were born in 2024, the 273rd most common name among girls that year.

1991peak 2022

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)

See the full list for Canada →

Chile

1 in 4,600

In Chile, 39 girls were registered as Octavia in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.

1920peak 2020

share of that year’s name registrations

First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021

See the full list for Chile →

France

1 in 5,000

In France, about 130 girls named Octavia were born in 2025, the 405th most common name among girls that year.

1980peak 2023

share of that year’s births on record

Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)

See the full list for France →

England and Wales

1 in 7,300

In England and Wales, 80 girls named Octavia were born in 2025, the 502nd most common name among girls that year.

1996peak 2021

share of that year’s name registrations

Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales

See the full list for England and Wales →

Scotland

1 in 9,200

In Scotland, 5 girls named Octavia were registered in 2024, the 541st most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.

Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names

See the full list for Scotland →

Argentina

1 in 15,000

In Argentina, 45 newborns were given the name Octavia in 2024.

2012peak 20212024

share of that year’s name registrations

Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024

See the full list for Argentina →

Spain

1 in 220,000

In Spain, 204 residents are named Octavia, ranked 4,405th among women, with a mean age of 52.8 years.

Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025

See the full list for Spain →

Brazil

1 in 1M

At the 2022 census, 141 people in Brazil were named Octavia, ranked 32,449th, with a median age of 35.
Among people named Octavia living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1930s than in any other decade.

peak 1930s1930s

people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth

The census also counted 45 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022

See the full list for Brazil →

Austria

last on record 2024

Octavia is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.

Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)

See the full list for Austria →

Montevideo City

last on record 2005

Octavia is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.

Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial

See the full list for Montevideo →

Poland

last on record 2023

Octavia is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.

First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)

See the full list for Poland →

Not on the record in Mexico City, Puerto Rico and Ireland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.

Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

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.

Names that fit alongside Octavia

Natalie Camilla Monica Marina Martina Sabina

Keep exploring

Nicknames for Octavia · British and London baby names · Names of poets and writers · Climbers and fallers · Familiar but never popular

Name trails: explore connections from Octavia →

The Octavia deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

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.

Both reports, explained →

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