Alva

Where Alva comes from

The dictionaries list Alva as a given name — a male given name — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1853
    Alva Belmont born
    American suffragette and socialite
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #180 among boys — 70 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1882
    Peak, #161
    85 babies named Alva — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1902
    Alva Myrdal born
    Swedish sociologist and politician
  5. 1908
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #389.
  6. 2000
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name.
Namesakes
  • Alva Myrdal · Swedish sociologist and politician, 1902–1986
  • Alva Belmont · American suffragette and socialite, 1853–1933
  • Alva Colquhoun · Australian swimmer, 1942–2025
  • Alva M. Lumpkin · American politician, 1886–1941
  • Alva B. Adams · American politician, 1875–1941

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.