Meaning & origin
What it means
As a Portuguese surname, it goes back to a word meaning “plain.”
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Where it comes from
As a Portuguese surname, it comes from Spanish nava.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1998. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Nave through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 6
- 0 boys · 6 girls
- Most popular year
- 1998
- 6 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 6 in 1998. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 104 as a first name in 2020; 4,639 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Nave’s family of names
In English usage, Nave as a surname has a related form in Neff. In Greek usage, Nave as a surname is a transliteration of Ναβέ.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Similar names
If you love Nave, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.