Baby NamesExplore all names
SHARED SPELLING

✦ Two distinct US naming histories

Oliver

Used in both girl and boy records

Oliver appears in both girl and boy US naming records. Compare the two independent popularity histories, ranks, and peak years.

Choose a record

Oliver by gender

Each record below preserves the original rank, use count, active years, and peak year for that gender. The spelling is shared; the data histories are not combined.

GIRL RECORDOliver as a girl’s nameUS records 1905–2024
#7729girl rank2023peak year
Read girl record ↗BOY RECORDOliver as a boy’s nameUS records 1880–2024
#149boy rank2024peak year
Read boy record ↗

Popularity ledger

Girl and boy use over time

GirlBoy

Trace the annual recorded uses of Oliver in the national name files. Hover a peak marker, move across the chart, or use the arrow keys to inspect an exact annual count and rank.

At a glance

RecordPeak yearHighest rankObserved usage
Girl202023 uses#129819051905–202072 listed years
Boy202014,147 uses#320191880–2020141 listed years

Annual counts and within-year ranks from the SSA national-name archive, 1880–2020. Names with fewer than five births in a year are not listed in the source files.

Origin of the spelling

Origin & meaning

OriginOld French form with debated derivation
MeaningPossibly associated with Latin oliva, “olive tree”; Germanic routes are also documented.

Oliver comes through the Old French Olivier. One proposed route connects it with Latin oliva, while other scholarship points to possible Germanic forms; the record preserves both explanations rather than presenting one as certain.

Medieval literary use helped circulate the name in Western Europe. It returned to wider English use in the 19th century and rose strongly again in the 21st century.

Related forms

OlivierOlivieroOlle

Reviewed 2026-08-15 · Sources