unisex name
Navy
NAY-vee
- Origin English
- Gender Unisex
- Syllables 2
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 7,915
the United States
#327
2025 births
Navy is a unisex name taken from the English word for a fleet, which comes through French from the Latin navis, a ship. It carries the color as much as the fleet, and it is one of the newest names in the English-speaking top 1,000.
- Navy is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 2025, when 1,045 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,173 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1985.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Navy over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1980s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1980s | 13 |
| 1990s | 49 |
| 2000s | 157 |
| 2010s | 1,465 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 5,033 |
What Navy means
Navy names a nation's fleet, and by extension the deep blue of naval uniform. Both senses are in play when families choose it, and the color is often the stronger of the two.
Where Navy comes from
Navy comes from the Old French navie, a fleet or shipping, from the Latin navigia and ultimately navis, a ship — the same root as navigate and nave. The color name is younger than the fleet: navy blue is recorded from the early nineteenth century, taken from the dark blue adopted by the British Royal Navy for its uniforms in 1748. As a given name it is very recent, appearing in our records from 1985, and belongs with the modern taste for color and word names alongside Indigo, Scout and Wren.
Navy in use
Navy first appears in our records in 1985 and reached its highest recorded use in 2025.
How popular is Navy?
In 2025, Navy was given to 1,045 babies in the United States, ranking #327 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Navy 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 Navy
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Navy also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Navy over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Navy 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.
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Navie
Sibling names for Navy
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Navy — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Navy
What does the name Navy mean?
A fleet of ships, from the Latin navis. It also names the deep blue of naval uniform.
Is Navy a boy's or a girl's name?
Both, though it is given more often to girls.
How new is the name Navy?
It first appears in the birth records we hold in 1985.
How popular is the name Navy?
In 2025, Navy was given to 1,045 babies in the United States, ranking #327 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
How many syllables are in Navy?
Navy has 2 syllables.
When was Navy most popular?
Navy peaked in 2025, when 1,045 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Navy a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Navy currently ranks #327 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.