Nova
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name of modern usage. From Latin nova (“new”) in the 20th century.
Source: Wiktionary, Swedish entry for Nova (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Nova has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2010. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | 32 |
| 2001 | 51 |
| 2002 | 90 |
| 2003 | 119 |
| 2004 | 229 |
| 2005 | 308 |
| 2006 | 362 |
| 2007 | 434 |
| 2008 | 458 |
| 2009 | 452 |
| 2010 | 499 |
| 2011 | 464 |
| 2012 | 418 |
| 2013 | 446 |
| 2014 | 388 |
| 2015 | 332 |
| 2016 | 381 |
| 2017 | 358 |
| 2018 | 371 |
| 2019 | 310 |
| 2020 | 310 |
| 2021 | 298 |
| 2022 | 249 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls | Men and boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 37 | – |
| 2000 | 71 | – |
| 2001 | 126 | – |
| 2002 | 214 | – |
| 2003 | 336 | – |
| 2004 | 558 | – |
| 2005 | 859 | – |
| 2006 | 1,210 | – |
| 2007 | 1,638 | – |
| 2008 | 2,119 | – |
| 2009 | 2,574 | – |
| 2010 | 3,086 | – |
| 2011 | 3,549 | – |
| 2012 | 3,973 | – |
| 2013 | 4,418 | – |
| 2014 | 4,798 | – |
| 2015 | 5,141 | – |
| 2016 | 5,537 | – |
| 2017 | 5,912 | – |
| 2018 | 6,281 | – |
| 2019 | 6,592 | – |
| 2020 | 6,910 | 10 |
Nova in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Nova.Hi! My name is Nova.
- Nova bor i Göteborg och pluggar till sjuksköterska.Nova lives in Gothenburg and is training to be a nurse.
- Nova har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Nova has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Novas mamma är lärare.Nova's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Novas mamma is Nova's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Nova
How do you pronounce Nova in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Nova from a native speaker's recording.
What does the name Nova mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name of modern usage. From Latin nova (“new”) in the 20th century.
How popular is Nova in Sweden?
249 babies were named Nova in 2022. In 2020, 6,920 people in Sweden had Nova as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2010 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.