Livia
An ancient Roman feminine name, potentially derived from the Latin word "livere" (to be envious or jealous).
Name Census estimates that about 9,159 living Americans carry the first name Livia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Livia today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Livia births was 2018 (430 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Livia. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Livia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
9.2K
~ 1 in 37,423 Americans
Peak year
2018
430 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#836
Tracked since 1906
Census
Livia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,932 people with the first name Livia, which placed it at #2,477 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#2,477
National first-name rank
People counted
9.9K
9,932 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Livia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Livia is White at 68.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Livia described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Livia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.2% · 6,774
- Hispanic or Latino17.2% · 1,709
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.7% · 568
- Two or more races4.6% · 458
- Black or African American3.8% · 373
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 50
Popularity
Livia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Livia from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,830 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Livia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Livia by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Livia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Livias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Livia, while Louisiana, South Dakota, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 181 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Livia
The name Livia has its origins in ancient Roman culture, dating back to the Roman Republic and Empire periods. It is derived from the Latin word "livius," which means "envious" or "jealous." This name was initially used by members of the prominent Livian family, one of the most illustrious patrician families in ancient Rome.
During the Roman era, the name Livia gained significant historical importance due to its association with Livia Drusilla, the third wife of the Roman Emperor Augustus. Born in 58 BC, Livia Drusilla was a highly influential and powerful figure in the Roman Empire, playing a crucial role in securing the succession of her son Tiberius as the next emperor.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Livia can be found in the writings of ancient Roman historians, such as Suetonius and Tacitus, who chronicled the lives and reigns of the Roman emperors. These historical accounts provide valuable insights into the significance of the name Livia during that era.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Livia. One such figure was Livia of Constantinople (384-388 AD), a Roman Empress and the second wife of the Eastern Roman Emperor Theodosius I. Another was Livia Apollonia (born c. 10 BC), the daughter of the Roman Senator Marcus Valerius Messalla Appianus and the wife of the Roman general Drusus Julius Caesar.
In the Middle Ages, the name Livia was less common, but it resurfaced during the Renaissance period. One notable bearer was Livia da Porto Thiene (1451-1508), an Italian noblewoman and the wife of the Blessed Bernardo Thiene. She played a significant role in the establishment of the Theatine Order, a Catholic religious order founded by her husband.
Another historical figure with the name Livia was Livia Drusilla (1662-1737), an Italian noblewoman and the daughter of Flavio Drusilla, the Duke of Persiacco. She was known for her involvement in the cultural and intellectual circles of her time.
It is worth noting that while the name Livia has its roots in ancient Roman culture, it has been adopted and used across various cultures and regions throughout history, albeit with variations in spelling and pronunciation.
People
Livia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Livia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Livia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Livia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,159 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Livia going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 37,423 US residents.
Is Livia a common name?
We classify Livia as "Rare". It ranks above 97.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,903 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Livia most popular?
The single biggest year for Livia was 2018, when 430 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Livia is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Livia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,932 people with the name Livia, or 3.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,477 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Livia in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Livia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Livia appears almost entirely female. Of the 9,934 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Livia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Livia is White at 68.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Livia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Livia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.2% (6,774 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Livia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Livia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Livia in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Livia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Livia in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Livia can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Livia?
See how many Americans are named Livia on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.