Olivia
Meaning
exact meaning not established by the sources behind this page; documented in Latinized English records by the late 13th century, before Shakespeare
Goes by Liv, Livvy
The story
Olivia's most famous chapter is not its beginning. Long before the countess in Twelfth Night, the name was already present in Latinized English records. A scholarly study places Olivia there by the late thirteenth century, which rules out the familiar claim that Shakespeare invented it.
One particularly clear trace comes from London in 1321, where the Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources records the Latin nominative form Olivia. That date is a firm surviving landmark, not a claim about the name's first-ever use. The records establish that Olivia came before the play without pretending to reveal its absolute beginning.
Then comes the literary Olivia. In Twelfth Night, Olivia is a named countess, and the play first appeared in print in the 1623 First Folio. That appearance did not create the name, but it gave Olivia a durable literary presence alongside the earlier records.
That distinction matters: Shakespeare did not give Olivia its birth, but scholarship does credit names he used with influencing England's naming pool in the seventeenth century and beyond. The play belongs to the name's reception, not its origin, and it cannot by itself explain any modern popularity chart. Olivia's story is more interesting than a coinage myth: a medieval documentary life followed by an unusually powerful literary afterlife.
Olivia in song
Olivia
One Direction (2015)
A sunny, Beatles-leaning song from One Direction's final album, co-written by Harry Styles, who has said Olivia need not be a girl at all and that it does not have to be so literal.
In literature since at least 1623: Twelfth Night (Shakespeare), 1623 First Folio.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Olivia peaked in the 2020s.
Popularity in Brazil
55,408 people · the #528 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 3,663 · median age 18
Among people named Olivia living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 13,718 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Olivia
Most people given the name Olivia in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Names like Olivia · Nicknames for Olivia · Middle names for Olivia · Global crossover names
The Olivia deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Olivia 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 Olivia fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Olivia fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Olivia to your family’s tree →