Nova
NOH-vah
The name Nova comes from the Latin adjective novus, meaning new, with its feminine form nova used substantively to denote something new or recently appeared.
The root descends from the Proto-Indo-European *newos, the same source that produced the Greek neos, the Sanskrit nava, the Old English nīwe, and the modern English new.
In astronomical use, the term stella nova (new star) was coined by the German astronomer Johannes Kepler in 1604 to describe a sudden brightening in the night sky, a usage formalized by 20th-century astrophysicists to describe a class of stellar
What the name Nova means
explosions in binary systems.
The earliest recorded use of Nova as a personal name appears in Roman antiquity, though sparingly, with mentions in Latin inscriptions from the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE.
The name was rare throughout the medieval period, surviving primarily as a Latin epithet.
Among Christian saints, Saint Nova, a virgin martyr of the early church, is commemorated in some Eastern calendars, though hagiographic details are scarce.
The name also appears in Hopi and other Native American traditions, where Nova independently means chases butterfly, a homophonic coincidence rather than a shared etymology.
Literary and cultural use of Nova grew sharply in the 20th century with the rise of science fiction. The novel Nova by Samuel R. Delany, published in 1968, helped establish the word’s evocative power in speculative literature.
The PBS science television series Nova, premiering in 1974, brought the term into widespread American household use.
The character Nova Prime appears in Marvel Comics, and the heroine Nova features in the Planet of the Apes film franchise from 1968 onward, played by Linda Harrison.
Geographic adoption of Nova as a feminine given name was virtually unknown in the English-speaking world before the 21st century.
In United States Social Security Administration records, Nova appeared sporadically from 1880 through the 1920s, then disappeared from the top 1000 entirely between 1932 and 2011.
The name re-entered the rankings in 2011, climbed extraordinarily fast through the 2010s, and reached No. 32 by 2022.
The trajectory makes Nova one of the fastest-rising girls’ names of the decade, paralleling the broader appeal of cosmic and celestial names.
Contemporary bearers include the American singer Nova Miller, born in 1999, the British actress Nova Pilbeam (1919-2015), who starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s Young and Innocent in 1937, and Nova Marie, daughter of NBA player Joakim Noah.
The Australian artist Nova Peris, born in 1971, the first Aboriginal Australian to win an Olympic gold medal, has further extended the name’s public profile.
US popularity over time
Numerology and symbolism
Based on Pythagorean numerology — a traditional system linking name letters to numbers. Presented for cultural interest.
Famous people named Nova
Nova - similar names
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Ways to spell Nova
| Variant | Language |
|---|---|
| Novah | English variant |
| Novia | Spanish (girlfriend) |
| Noova | Spelling variant |