girl's name
Liv
LIV
- Origin Norse
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 1
- Letters 3
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 12,737
the United States
#897
2025 births
Liv is a girl's name of Old Norse origin meaning "protection," which modern Scandinavian speakers reinterpret as "life" because it now resembles that word. It ranks 132nd in France and 897th in the United States, and it is rising.
- Liv is a name of Norse origin.
- Peaked in 2017, when 437 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 11,201 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1956.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Liv over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1950s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1950s | 10 |
| 1960s | 5 |
| 1970s | 129 |
| 1980s | 73 |
| 1990s | 84 |
| 2000s | 890 |
| 2010s | 3,443 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 2,267 |
What Liv means
Liv means protection or shelter, from the Old Norse hlíf. Modern Norwegian and Danish speakers read it as liv, life, which is a different word — the name has effectively acquired a second meaning through sounding like one.
Where Liv comes from
Liv comes from the Old Norse Hlíf, meaning protection or shield, and it appears in the sagas as a woman's name. The modern reading as life is a reinterpretation: liv is the ordinary Norwegian and Danish word for life, and once the older hlíf fell out of use the name was naturally understood as the word it now resembles. Both meanings are in circulation and Scandinavian sources give either. There is a separate figure called Líf in Norse myth, one of two humans who survive Ragnarök by sheltering in a wood, and her name does mean life — which has helped the reinterpretation along. Liv Ullmann, the Norwegian actor, carried the name internationally from the 1960s, and Liv Tyler was named after her.
Liv in use
Liv ranks 132nd in France with about 395 births in 2025 and 897th in the United States, and it is rising in our data with a peak in 2017. Our records carry it from 1956. It appears in Ireland, Scotland and England and Wales too, which is broad reach for a three-letter Scandinavian name, and its French position is the strongest of any market we hold.
How popular is Liv?
In 2025, Liv was given to 296 babies in the United States, ranking #897 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Liv is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Liv
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Liv also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Liv over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Liv in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Liv
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Liv — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Liv
What does the name Liv mean?
Protection, from the Old Norse hlíf. Modern Scandinavian speakers read it as life, which is a different word.
Does Liv mean life?
Not originally. The name is from hlíf, protection, and acquired the life reading by resembling the modern word liv.
Is Liv short for Olivia?
It is used that way in English, but the Norse name is independent and much older in that use.
How popular is Liv?
132nd in France and 897th in the United States.
Is Liv a girl's or a boy's name?
Liv is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Liv?
Liv has 1 syllable.
Is Liv a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Liv currently ranks #132 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.