How popular is the baby name Neve in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Neve.

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Popularity of the baby name Neve


Posts that mention the name Neve

Popular baby names in NWT, 2019

According to Cabin Radio, the most popular* baby names in the Canadian territory of Northwest Territories in 2019 were Zoey and Elias/John/Joseph/Michael (4-way tie).

Here are Northwest Territories’ top girl names and top boy names of 2019:

Girl Names

  1. Zoey (4 girls)
  2. Emily, Hazel, Kinsley, Lily (3 girls each)
  3. Adeline, Alexandra, Amelia, Anastasia, Ashley, Aurora, Blair, Edie, Ella, Evelyn, Everly, Helena, Josie, Lexie, Lilah, Madeline, Madison, Miley, Myla, Nevaeh, Neve, Ruby, Ruth, Sadie, Serenity, Sofia, Sophie, Victoria, Willa (2 girls each)

Boy Names

  1. Elias, John, Joseph, Michael (3 boys each)
  2. Aiden, Benjamin, Bodhi, Carter, Charles, David, Dominic, Dylan, Edward, Elliott, Felix, Hudson, Iverson, Jack, Jeremiah, Jimmy, Jonah, Joshua, Lennox, Levi, Mackenzie, Maverick, Nate, Nathan, Nicholas, Noah, Riel, Theo, Timothy, Walker, Wesley (2 boys each)

In 2018, the top names in NWT were Carter, John, Olivia, and Peyton (with 4 babies each). In 2015, the top names were Abigail and Liam. And in 2020, the very first baby born in NWT was named Axel.

Sources: Zoey is the NWT’s most popular baby name of 2019, The NWT’s top baby names of 2018

*These rankings only cover NWT births through early December.

Celebrity baby name: Neve Te Aroha

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
Jacinda Ardern

In June of 2018, Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, and her partner Clarke Gayford welcomed a baby girl.

The baby’s name? Neve Te Aroha (pronounced NEEV tay-AH-roh-hah).

Ardern said:

[W]e chose Neve because we just liked it, and when we met her we thought she looked like she suited the name. Also, it means — in various forms — it means bright and radiant, and snow which seemed like a good combination for Matariki [the Maori New Year] and for solstice.

Neve is an Anglicized form of the Irish name Niamh, which means “bright.” Its spelling corresponds to the word for “snow” in several romance languages, including Italian and Portuguese.

The Maori term te aroha, which means “the love,” was chosen to reflect the love and generosity shown to the family — particularly by the various Maori tribes (iwi) — during the pregnancy. Ardern added:

It’s also the place where all my family are from, as well — it’s a place name. And I grew up under that mountain [Mount Te Aroha].

Neither Neve nor Te Aroha has ever been popular enough to rank as one of the top 100 girl names in New Zealand. Niamh and Aroha, however, have both made the top 100 exactly once: Niamh in 2000, Aroha in 1982.

P.S. Upon the arrival of Neve, Jacinda Ardern became the second elected head of government to give birth while in office. The first was Benazir Bhutto, who was serving as the prime minister of Pakistan when she gave birth to her daughter Bakhtawar in early 1990.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in 2018 by Newzild under CC BY-SA 4.0.

[Latest update: Nov. 2023]

Where did the baby name Neve come from in 1996?

neve campbell, party of five, 1990s, baby name

The baby name Neve, an anglicized form of the Irish name Niamh (meaning “bright”), first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 1996:

  • 1998: 38 baby girls named Neve
  • 1997: 29 baby girls named Neve
  • 1996: 8 baby girls named Neve [debut]
  • 1995: unlisted
  • 1994: unlisted

Who kicked it off?

Actress Neve Campbell, one of the stars of the TV show Party of Five. The show premiered in 1994, but didn’t become popular until 1996, after winning the Golden Globe for “Best Television Series – Drama” that January.

Neve played 15-year-old Julia Salinger, middle child of the five orphaned Salinger siblings. (Their parents had died in a car accident.) Julia had older brothers named Charlie and Bailey, a younger sister named Claudia, and a baby brother named Owen.

The show didn’t do much for the names Charlie or Claudia, and Julia was already on the rise, thanks to Julia Roberts. But it definitely gave the name Bailey a boost as a boy name. And it seems to have kicked off the long (and continuing!) rise of the name Owen.

Do you like the name Neve? What spelling do you prefer?

Sources: Party of Five – Wikipedia, SSA

Popular baby names in British Columbia (Canada), 2014

According to data from British Columbia’s Vital Statistics Agency, the most popular baby names in the Canadian province in 2014 were Olivia and Ethan.

Here are B.C.’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2014:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Olivia, 292 baby girls
2. Emma, 240
3. Sophia, 183
4. Emily, 181
5. Chloe, 175
6. Ava, 169
7. Charlotte, 159
8. Lily, 141
9. Amelia, 136
10. Abigail, 134
1. Ethan, 256 baby boys
2. Liam, 254
3. Lucas, 226
4. Oliver, 198
5. Mason, 197
6. Benjamin, 187
7. William, 183
8. Jacob, 179
9. Noah, 177
10. Logan, 175

Lily, Amelia and Abigail replaced Ella, Avery and Hannah in the girls’ top 10

Jacob replaced Alexander in the boys’ top 10.

Other girl names used 5-or-more times in 2014, in order of popularity, include: Mannat, Juniper, Yuna, Avleen, Bria, Acacia, Ember, Isis, Juno, Japji, Jovie, Neve, Saskia, Asees, Harveen, Khaleesi, Queena, Ria, Sehaj, Winnie.

And other boy names used 5-or-more times in 2014, in order of popularity, include: Arlo, Bodhi, Angus, Atlas, Sage, Enoch, Huxley, Nikola, Daya, Kesler, Kyan, Jairus, Jujhar, Kaito, Koa, Rocky, Seamus, Terry, Tejas, Thorin.

Here are the 2013, 2012, and 2009 rankings for B.C.

Sources: Baby’s Most Chosen Names in British Columbia, 2014, Most popular B.C. baby names for 2014 are Ethan and Olivia