True to its meaning, "new", Nova is a relatively new addition to the American baby name scene. Here, we explore its extraordinary rise to the top of the baby name charts.
At the turn of the twenty-first century, you'd be hard-pressed to find a baby girl called Nova, but fast forward to today, and little Novas seem to be everywhere. And we're not only talking about girls: though Nova is predominantly used as a girl's name, there are also a substantial number of baby boys called Nova. But what is it about this short unisex moniker that has made it into one of the defining baby names of this century?
First, there's Nova's uplifting meaning, "new" or "novel", which comes from Latin. Technically, though, the standard Latin word for "new" is novus, but as adjectives in Latin take on different endings to match the gender of the noun they describe, novus becomes nova when combined with a feminine noun.
Latin aside, a number of modern languages also feature the word nova in their lexicon—not surprising given the Latin roots of several European languages. In Italian, Portuguese and Catalan, for example, nova is the feminine form of nuovo (Italian), novo (Portuguese) and nou (Catalan), all meaning "new".
In modern Spanish, the word for new is "nuevo" (masculine) or "nueva" (feminine), though the name Nova probably carries the same connotations for Spanish speakers as for speakers of other Romance languages derived from Latin.
Moving toward the East, you'll also encounter the word nova as the feminine form of the word "new" in many Slavic languages. However, depending on the language, it may also be spelled nowa (Polish) or nová (Czech).
In its core, Nova means "new", but it also has another, well-known meaning that's linked to, but separate from its original Latin meaning. We're talking about the astronomical event, of course, which was so named because it causes a star to suddenly appear brighter, as if a "new" star has emerged in the sky.
While some baby namers may have been thinking about the original, Latin meaning of Nova, many others have undoubtedly been drawn to the name because of its astronomical meaning. In fact, astronomical or celestial names as a group have seen a huge surge this century, and aside from Nova, names like Luna (moon), Stella (star) and Orion (constellation) are going strong.
And, while the outer space falls outside the standard definition of "nature", celestial-inspired names do give off vibes similar to nature baby names, which are also very much on on-trend (hello Baby River! Hi Baby Willow!).
Not too long ago, biblical baby names were the norm. With no biblical background, Nova would have had trouble to climb to the top of the baby name charts back then. But times have changed, and a non-biblical name like Nova is perfectly in step with today's naming trends. In addition to offering a multi-layered meaning, Nova is short, simple, and easy to pronounce, just like many other twenty-first century favorites (think Luna, Ava and Nora).
What's more, many modern parents are drawn to gender-neutral names, and Nova fits that bill, too. It's still much more popular for girls, but in 2017, the name made history by appearing in the Top 1000 Names for Boys for the first time.