Given name & surname · also Germanic, Late Latin
Oliver
“olive tree”
Oliver has a rich medieval literary background, while its original linguistic meaning remains open to debate.
Original LatinOliverius
Meaning & origin
What it means
An “olive tree” interpretation is associated with Oliver, but it does not settle the name’s original meaning.
Where it comes from
Oliver reached English through Norman usage. Its deeper origin is probably Germanic, although its exact earlier form is uncertain.
How it developed
The French form Olivier resembles a Late Latin word for an olive tree. Oliver also appears among legendary companions with Germanic names, suggesting that Olivier may have reshaped an older Germanic name, perhaps Olaf. That deeper connection remains uncertain.
The story
In the medieval Song of Roland, Olivier is Roland’s thoughtful and cautious companion in arms. This places the name in the world of Charlemagne’s legendary paladins.
Oliver through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 270,680
- 269,903 boys · 777 girls
- Most popular year
- 2024
- 15,421 babies
- 2025
- 14,963
- #3 for boys · #5,359 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +10%
- Rising
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 14,939 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 3 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 10.3% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. It also appeared in 24 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (1,456). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 146,493 as a first name in 2020; 109,817 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.
Oliver’s family of names
In English usage, Oliver has a diminutive in Ollie. Oliver has a feminine form in Olivia. In English usage, Oliver has a conventional equivalent in the French form Olivier.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Oliver has relatives in 27 languages. Lines run from its Latin roots to each of them.
Latinwhere Oliver comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 22
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 2
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 42
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Oliveriusroot · Latin
- Oliviafeminine form · Finnish
- Olivaequivalent
- Olyverequivalent
- Oliverafeminine form · Serbo-Croatian
- Olafcognate · Danish
- Oliberequivalent
- OliwierPolish
Show 34 moreShow fewer
- OliwerPolish
- Ollyverequivalent
- Olivarequivalent
- Olofcognate · Swedish
- Olivianequivalent
- Aliverequivalent
- Oliveyequivalent
- Öluequivalent
- Ollivierequivalent
- Olivalequivalent
- Oliuequivalent
- Olivyiequivalent
- Oliveirosequivalent
- Olierequivalent
- Olivieriequivalent
- Livîequivalent
- Ōriwaborrowing · Māori
- Oliweleborrowing · Hawaiian
- ΌλιβερGreek
- Olivériocognate · Portuguese
- Holiverequivalent
- Oliferequivalent
- Ölüequivalent
- ÓliverPortuguese, Icelandic
- OilibhéarIrish
- OlivurFaroese
- Oilbhreiscognate · Scottish Gaelic
- OlivérHungarian
- OliversLatvian
- Allvarcognate · Swedish
- Óleifrroot · Old Norse
- OlbersLow German
- ÓlíverIcelandic
- ÓlivarFaroese
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Oliver
- Oliver CromwellEnglish military and political leader (1599–1658)
- Oliver KahnGerman association football player (born 1969)
- Oliver GoldsmithAnglo-Irish writer, poet, and physician (d. 1774)1728–1774
- Oliver Heavisideelectrical engineer, mathematician and physicist (1850–1925)
- Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr.American poet and physician (1809–1894)
- Oliver E. WilliamsonAmerican economist (1932–2020)
- Oliver HardyAmerican comic actor famous as one half of Laurel and Hardy (1892–1957)
- Oliver SacksBritish neurologist and writer (1933–2015)
- Oliver SmithiesBiochemistry, genetics, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 20071925–2017
Characters named Oliver: Green Arrow (DC Comics), Oliver (fictional knight in early French literature), Oliver Queen (the television series Arrow), Oliver Twist (title character and the protagonist of the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Oliver, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Usher
“from the mouth of the river” · “from. the mouth of the river”
>99% boys
Ion
“of the tree” · “resembling a lotus blossom”
>99% boys
August
“one who is venerable; majestic”
91% boys · 9% girls
Titus
“of the giants” · “a great defender”
>99% boys
Locke
“man of the forest” · “from the fortress”
>99% boys
Oballa
“a river goddess”
—
Baumgaertner
“tree-gardener”
—
Anumatie
Anumatie is a variant of Anumati. One Hindi interpretation is “in Hinduism, moon goddess of prosperity, intellect, children, and spirituality.”
—