Oliver

“Olive tree planter, or ancestor's heir (disputed origin)” — Latin/Germanic (disputed) origin

Boy's name · #3 in the US (2025) · Comeback

Oliver was #67 in 1881, slipped to #472 by 1986, and reached #3 in 2019 and has held it for 7 straight years since. Roughly 270,000 boys have been named Oliver since 1880. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records. Oliver's short forms are Ollie, Oli, and Olly. A popular twin pairing with Oliver is Olivia for a girl.

Around the world: #1 in Australia (QLD) (2025) · #2 in Australia (NSW) (2025) · #2 in Australia (VIC) (2025) · #2 in Hungary (2025) · #3 in Estonia (2024).

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 51 states, the #1 boy's name in 17 of them. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Famous Olivers

Oliver Cromwell — English military and political leader (1599–1658)
Oliver Stone — American film director, screenwriter, and producer (born 1946)
Oliver Kahn — German association football player (born 1969)
Oliver Goldsmith — Anglo-Irish writer, poet, and physician (d. 1774)
Oliver Heaviside — electrical engineer, mathematician and physicist (1850–1925)

In stories & tradition

Oliver (Green Arrow) — Injustice: Gods Among Us · Injustice 2
Oliver Wood — Harry Potter · Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Oliver — The Song of Roland · Frankish novel

What Olivers become

Among 5,982 notable people named Oliver:

Medical professionals appear 1.55× more often than among typical names — e.g. Oliver Goldsmith, Anglo-Irish writer, poet, and physician (d. 1774).

Similar names: Theodore · Henry · Lucas · Leo · Sebastian · Jack

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service