Siva

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Shiva in US United States, SE Sweden, AU Australia and 9 more, Shiv in IN India, BR Brazil, NO Norway and 6 more, ศิวะ in TH Thailand and Shibu in BD Bangladesh.

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 2 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◐

Siva is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• a separate given name47K records spelled Siva5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Śiva, Şiva, Śivā, Sivá

• Indonesian given name13K records spelled Siva5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, United States

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Siva, Şiva, Šîvâ

• Swahili given name6.1K records spelled Siva4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, Malaysia, South Africa

  Languages: Swahili, Southern Sotho

  Also written Şiva

• French given name4.5K records spelled Siva7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, India, United States, Singapore

  Also written Şiva, Śivā, Sîvâ, Sivå, Sivá

• a separate given name1.1K records spelled Siva4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, Malaysia, United States, United Kingdom

  Also written Sîvã, Sìvá, Şiva

51 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●

Siva 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 pi, A palace­guard, paramour of Anulā. He reigned for fourteen months, at the end of which time he was killed in favour of Vaṭuka.’

  as a name·Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol II (N-H)

• In pi, One of the ten sons of Muṭasiva.’ He reigned for ten years and established the Nagaraṅgana­vihāra.’ Ibid., xviff. 45.

  as a name·Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol II (N-H)

• In pi, One of the eleven children of Paṇḍuvāsudeva and Kaccāna.’

  as a name·Dictionary of Pali Proper Names Vol II (N-H)

• (Hin) name for Siva (god of destruction)

  as a name·A Genealogists Guide to Indian Names A Reference for First Names from India

• Agni (V); Indra (५); Aghora (N); Ardhanarisvara

  as a name·Sunama Sarit (Hindi) Ten Thousand Sanskrit Names

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●

IN naampy — India given names from state electoral rolls (in-rolls) — 79 years between 1920–2015. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Siva Prasad Barooahb. 1880INIndian journalist and tea planter (1880–1938)
• Siva Selliahb. 1924LKSri Lankan judge (1924–1997)
• Siva Shankar Babab. 1949INHindu spiritual leader
• Siva S. Bandab. 1951USAmerican aerospace engineer
• Siva Vaidhyanathanb. 1966USAmerican academic
• Siva Balajib. 1980INIndian Tamil, Telugu actor
• Siva Kaneswaranb. 1988IEIrish singer
• Siva Kumarb. 1990INcricketer
• Siva II of Anuradhapuraking of Anuradhapura
• Siva Simha MallaNPMalla ruler

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 · 256 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Siva?

We estimate roughly 41 thousand people bear Siva (counting its spellings and scripts) across 10 countries in our records.

In which country does Siva have the most bearers?

Siva is most frequently recorded in India, where it is most often spelled shiv.

Where is Siva most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Siva is densest in Sweden — about 1 in 345 people — even though India holds more of our records for it.

How common is Siva compared with other names?

In India, Siva is the 40th most common given name of 4,777,337 given names recorded there.

Is Siva a male or female name?

Siva is a male 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 Siva mean?

Recorded meaning: The name Of a god.’ A devaputta, named Siva, is mentioned in the Saṃyutta2 as visiting the Buddha and speaking several verses on the benefit of consorting only with the good.