Liva

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Līva in LV Latvia, RU Russia.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 3 languages in the etymology graph.

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◐

Liva is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Portuguese given name14K records spelled Liva4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, Argentina, United States, Peru

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish

  Also written Līva, Líva

• English given name9.4K records spelled Liva7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Netherlands, United States, Germany, Austria

  Languages: English, Western Frisian, Dutch

  Also written Līva

• Hindi given name789 records spelled Liva4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, Türkiye, Malaysia

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu

  Also written Līva

• Ukrainian surname565 records spelled Liva11 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Ukraine, Russia, Latvia, United States

  Languages: Ukrainian, Russian, Czech

  Also written Ліва, Лива, Līva

• Indonesian given name360 records spelled Liva2 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, India, Türkiye, United States

  Also written Līva

• a separate given name354 records spelled Liva4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, Latvia

  Also written Līva, Liṿa, Líva

48 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●

Liva 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 wyy, formative in several words denoting lightning

  as a word·Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD), CLDF v2.0

• In Swedish, to liven (something) up, to enliven (something)

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

• In Slovak, a diminutive of the female given name Lívia

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

• In nlg, centipede

  as a word·Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD), CLDF v2.0

• In fj, lightning

  as a word·Austronesian Comparative Dictionary (ACD), CLDF v2.0

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) — 36 years between 1974–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Liva Järnefeltb. 1876SESwedish mezzo-soprano opera singer
• Liva Weelb. 1897DKactress (1897-1952)
• Liva Saryeeb. 1988LRLiberian athlete
• Liva Zunkerb. 1989DEGerman association football player
• Liva Isakson Lundinb. 1990SESwedish artist
• Liva Stegeb. 2002DEGerman actress
• Liva Polkab. 2003LVLatvian association football player
• Liva Prescott ThomsenDanish voice 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 · 421 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Liva?

We estimate roughly 11 thousand people bear Liva (counting its spellings and scripts) across 12 countries in our records.

In which country does Liva have the most bearers?

We estimate about 6.1 thousand people bear Liva in Denmark, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled liva.

Where is Liva most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Liva is densest in Latvia — about 1 in 689 people — even though Denmark holds more of our records for it.

How common is Liva compared with other names?

In Denmark, Liva is the 239th most common given name of 31,396 given names recorded there.

Is Liva a male or female name?

Liva 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 Liva mean?

Recorded meaning: definite plural of liv