Recorded 1942–2025 · United States
Tova was most popular in 2023, when 94 American babies were given the name — ranking #3,729 that year. In 2025 it ranked #4,625, with 66 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 2,750 people named Tova.
Tova first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1942, which makes it about 83 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 75 of the 84 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 2,750 American births named Tova between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 2,677 are estimated to be alive today.
66 American babies were named Tova in 2025, ranking #4,625 that year.
Tova is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 72 births a year, against 53 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +37% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Tova is a girl’s name — 100.0% of the 2,750 Americans given it were girls and 0.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 2,677 Americans named Tova are alive today — 97% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 24 years old, and half are between 10 and 41. That is a wide band, the mark of a name in steady use across generations rather than a passing fashion.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Tova on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org