Geneva

Where Geneva comes from

Mentioned in Latin texts as Genava. Probably via a Proto-Celtic *genwā from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénw-eh₂ (“knee”), a derivative of *ǵónu in the sense of a bending river or estuary, possibly akin to Genoa.
— Wiktionary's entry for Geneva
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #294 among girls — 28 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1905
    Geneva Mitchell born
    American actress
  3. 1920
    Peak, #106
    2,467 babies named Geneva — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1938
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #171.
  5. 1976
    Geneva Cruz born
    Filipino actress and singer
In the dictionary
  • A female given name transferred from the place name or confused with Genevieve or Ginevra.
Namesakes
  • Geneva Mitchell · American actress, 1905–1949
  • Geneva Cruz · Filipino actress and singer, born 1976
  • Geneva Duker · American actress, 1905–1976
  • Geneva Locke · Canadian actress, born 1988

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.