Oliver
- Pronunciation
- [O-li-ver]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- From Olivier; possibly olive tree, with other proposed derivations
- Origin
- Old French
Meaning and history of Oliver
Oliver comes from Old French Olivier. One proposed derivation connects it with Latin oliva, the olive tree. References also discuss an underlying Germanic name whose spelling changed through association with the Latin word. The olive-tree interpretation is therefore a possibility, rather than a settled translation. A literary or historical bearer can illustrate the name’s use without proving why later parents chose it.
Name-history references: Oliver. Reviewed October 27, 2026.
By Marvin Tang. Popularity figures use an imported selection of SSA records; SSA does not supply name meanings or etymologies. Editorial references, where available, are listed with the name explanation. Sources and coverage.
Quick Facts About Oliver
US Popularity History (1880–2025)
Annual imported US counts for Oliver by recorded sex, from US Social Security Administration records. Highest count in the imported records: 2024 with 15,343 boys named Oliver (boy rank #3 that year).
Latest imported observation: in 2025, ranked #3 for boys (14,939 imported records).
Source: US Social Security Administration. Coverage: imported US Social Security card-application records, not a complete birth census. Historical coverage is narrower, including top-100 selection before 2000; recent imports also use catalog and rank filters. Missing rows can reflect those filters or source privacy limits and must not be read as zero or fewer than five uses. Spellings and recorded sex are kept separate.
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Look up Oliver across states
Compare this exact spelling in one year and recorded sex list. Missing state records remain unknown.
Observed State Ranks for Oliver
Average boy-name rank across the same 2016–2025 window, limited to 51 jurisdictions with every year imported. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings. This is an ordinal comparison, not a per-capita rate. States with missing years are excluded. For Oliver the lowest observed averages are in Iowa, Oregon, Idaho.
Lowest observed average rank
| # | State | Avg rank | Imported count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iowa | #1 | 2,028 |
| 2 | Oregon | #1 | 2,280 |
| 3 | Idaho | #1 | 1,280 |
| 4 | Utah | #1 | 2,874 |
| 5 | Wisconsin | #1 | 3,305 |
| 6 | Indiana | #2 | 4,098 |
| 7 | Vermont | #2 | 361 |
| 8 | North Dakota | #2 | 595 |
| 9 | South Dakota | #2 | 613 |
| 10 | Maine | #2 | 789 |
Highest observed average rank
| # | State | Avg rank | Imported count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mississippi | #27 | 703 |
| 2 | New Jersey | #23 | 2,665 |
| 3 | Delaware | #23 | 302 |
| 4 | District of Columbia | #16 | 371 |
| 5 | New Mexico | #15 | 612 |
| 6 | Georgia | #14 | 3,606 |
| 7 | New York | #14 | 6,654 |
| 8 | Texas | #13 | 12,355 |
| 9 | Maryland | #13 | 2,009 |
| 10 | Alabama | #13 | 1,770 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. Only states with all 10 annual observations for this spelling and recorded sex are compared. Missing states are excluded, not assigned zero. Average rank measures position in state rankings, not a per-capita rate. Local import filters and SSA privacy limits can both create gaps. Coverage and limitations.
Related Forms in This Catalog
Open each form for its own meaning, language history, and exact-spelling usage records.
| Name |
|---|
| Olivier |
Famous People Named Oliver
5 notable figures from history and culture who share the name Oliver.
- Oliver Cromwell — Politician (1599)
- Oliver Goldsmith was an Anglo-Irish essayist and novelist of the 18th century.
- Oliver North is a former United States Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, political commentator and TV host.
- Oliver Reed — Movie Actor (1938)
- Oliver Stone — Director (1946)
Looking for names like Oliver?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Oliver to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Oliver against names with the largest imported counts for boys-name peers (top 8 with every year imported, 2016–2025). Names with missing annual observations are excluded from this comparison.
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