How Many People Are Named Alva?
An estimated 5,529 people in the United States have the first name Alva. It is used for both genders, with 56.0% male. The average bearer is 62 years old, and Alva peaked in popularity in 1917 with 478 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Alva as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Alva paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Alva is a genuinely unisex name, given to both boys and girls in roughly equal numbers.
Estimated Living Americans
5,529
About 1 in 61,992 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Male
56.0% confidence
Average Age
62
years old
Peak Year
1917
478 births
Total Registered
20,130
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Alva
Alva is a genuinely unisex name, used for both males (56.0%) and females (44.0%). Out of 20,130 total births registered, 11,263 were male and 8,867 were female.
Alva as a male name
Ranked #8,991 in 2024
8 male births in 2024
Peak: 1917 (317 births)
Alva as a female name
Ranked #4,465 in 2024
31 female births in 2024
Peak: 1918 (196 births)
Alva: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Alva span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 4,142 babies were registered. Alva has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Alva by Decade
How has Alva tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 845 | 663 | 182 | |
| 1890s | 1,164 | 689 | 475 | |
| 1900s | 1,179 | 575 | 604 | |
| 1910s | 3,382 | 1,978 | 1,404 | |
| 1920s | 4,142 | 2,551 | 1,591 | |
| 1930s | 2,866 | 1,681 | 1,185 | |
| 1940s | 2,091 | 1,216 | 875 | |
| 1950s | 1,514 | 717 | 797 | |
| 1960s | 998 | 479 | 519 | |
| 1970s | 608 | 292 | 316 | |
| 1980s | 437 | 158 | 279 | |
| 1990s | 261 | 104 | 157 | |
| 2000s | 184 | 52 | 132 | |
| 2010s | 262 | 65 | 197 | |
| 2020s | 197 | 43 | 154 | |
Alva by State
Birth registrations for Alva span all 37 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio. The lowest are in Utah, Montana, North Dakota. On average, about 267 Alvas were registered per state.
Alva + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Alva as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Alva
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
Alva: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alva?
We estimate approximately 5,529 people named Alva are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 61,992 Americans share this first name.
Is Alva a common name?
Alva is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 96.7% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 20,130 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Alva most popular?
Alva reached peak popularity in 1917, when 478 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Alva is approximately 62 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Alva a male name?
Alva is predominantly male. 56.0% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Alva Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Alva Smith, Alva Johnson, Alva Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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