Liv

Meaning & origin●

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Liv is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English given name46K records spelled Liv8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Netherlands, United States, Belgium, Australia

  Languages: English, Western Frisian, Dutch

  Also written Lìv, Lív

• French given name15K records spelled Liv3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Spain, United States, Norway

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Lív

• Portuguese given name11K records spelled Liv7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, Peru, Argentina

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish

  Also written Lív, Lïv, Lìv

• a separate given name5.0K records spelled Liv3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Norway, United States, Sweden, United Kingdom

  Also written Lív, L̶i̶v̶

• a separate given name1.4K records spelled Liv2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom

  Also written Lív

• Polish given name538 records spelled Liv2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, United States, United Kingdom, Norway

  Also written Lív

• Russian given name272 records spelled Liv10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Norway, United States, Türkiye

  Languages: Russian, Ukrainian

  Also written Лив, Lyv, Лів, LiW, Lív

46 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Liv is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In German, weibl. Vom. norwegischer Herkunft (alt­ nord. hlif »Wehr, Schild«, aber häufig mit liv »Leben« in Verbindung gebracht). 4· Be­ kannte Namensträgerinnen: Liv Ullmann, norwegische

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• Protección

  as a name·25,000 nombres de bebé. La mejor guía para escoger el nombre adecuado

• Scandinavian: from an Old Norse female personal name identical in form with the vocabulary word hlíf defence, protection. In modern use it is often associated with the Norwegian vocabulary word liv life. The name is borne by a character in Nordic legend, and was revived in the late 19th century. It is now sometimes taken as a short form of ELISABET .

  as a word

• In English, A diminutive of the female given names Olive and Olivia.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• ISO 639-3 language code for Livonian.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

NO SSB — Navn (1880–present) — 81 years between 1945–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Liv Ullmannb. 1938NONorwegian actress, director, and screenwriter (born 1938)
• Liv Bernhoft Osab. 1957NONorwegian actress
• Liv Signe Navarseteb. 1958NONorwegian politician
• Liv Inger Sombyb. 1962NOSaami author, associate professor, and journalist from Norway
• Liv Kristineb. 1976NONorwegian singer
• Liv Tylerb. 1977USAmerican actress (born 1977)
• Liv Mjönesb. 1979SESwedish actress
• Liv Lisa Friesb. 1990DEGerman actress
• Liv Morganb. 1994USAmerican professional wrestler
• Liv Hewsonb. 1995AUAustralian actor

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 591 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Liv?

We estimate roughly 46 thousand people bear Liv (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Liv have the most bearers?

We estimate about 20 thousand people bear Liv in Norway, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled liv.

Where is Liv most common?

Liv is densest in Norway, where the national register counts about 1 in 269 people carrying it.

How common is Liv compared with other names?

In Norway, Liv is the 53rd most common given name of 38,312 given names recorded there.

Is Liv a male or female name?

Liv is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Liv mean?

Recorded meaning: life