Skip to content

Name

Nova

/NOH-vah/ FeminineLatin

Meaning

Nova is a feminine name of Latin origin meaning “new”.

Nova is Latin for new, but its naming power comes from astronomy, where a nova is a star that abruptly flares to dazzling brightness. The name's blend of science, space, and a fashionable -a ending propelled one of the fastest rises in recent American naming.

Soared into the US girls' top 40 by the early 2020s.

Popularity in the United States

Girls

Ranked #46 in 2025 · peak #32 in 2022

Data: US Social Security Administration, top-1000 ranks.

At a glance

Origin
Latin
Gender
Feminine
Pronounced
/NOH-vah/
Themes
StarRebirth

Advertisement

Questions

  • Nova is a feminine name of Latin origin meaning “new”. Nova is Latin for new, but its naming power comes from astronomy, where a nova is a star that abruptly flares to dazzling brightness.

  • Nova is traditionally a feminine (girl) name. Soared into the US girls' top 40 by the early 2020s.

  • The name Nova comes from Latin. Nova is Latin for new, but its naming power comes from astronomy, where a nova is a star that abruptly flares to dazzling brightness. The name's blend of science, space, and a fashionable -a ending propelled one of the fastest rises in recent American naming.

  • Nova is pronounced NOH-vah.

More names that mean star

Names that share this meaning.