Love
Love was the 957th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 269 babies. Its best year was 2023, when it ranked 732nd; the most babies were born in 2022 (386). Over the last ten years it has moved up 880 places. More babies were named Love in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Meaning love (word name) · English, Old English
Say it LUV /lʌv/
- Rank in 2025
- #957 girls, up 69 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 269girls
- Girls and boys
- 93% girls, 7% boys2021–2025
- Peak year
- 2022386 babies
- Total since 1880
- 5,785babies recorded
What does the name Love mean?
Love is the English word love used as a given name, from Old English lufu. It is also an old English surname, which came both from the word, as a nickname, and from the Old English personal name Lufa. In Swedish, Love is a separate boys' name, created as a masculine counterpart of Lova and first recorded in 1782, according to Wiktionary. SSA records show Love for both boys and girls in the US since the 1880s.
lufu (Old English, “love”)
How sure is this? Well established. The surname may come from the word or from a personal name Lufa.
See also: English names, names that mean love.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'love' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- Wiktionary, entry 'Love' (Swedish section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (our computation), SSA (public domain)
Love popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Rank (boys) | Babies (girls) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #957 | #4,804 | 269 | 21 |
| 2020 | #1,026 | #6,168 | 245 | 14 |
| 2010 | #2,181 | #6,938 | 90 | 12 |
| 2000 | #2,658 | #9,842 | 56 | 6 |
| 1990 | #8,255 | — | 10 | — |
| 1980 | #4,432 | — | 17 | — |
| 1970 | #3,376 | — | 19 | — |
| 1960 | — | — | — | — |
| 1950 | #3,837 | #3,208 | 9 | 7 |
| 1940 | #4,761 | — | 5 | — |
| 1930 | #1,729 | #2,916 | 22 | 9 |
| 1920 | #2,421 | #2,542 | 15 | 12 |
| 1910 | #1,392 | #1,269 | 12 | 8 |
| 1900 | #1,514 | #1,124 | 8 | 7 |
| 1890 | #1,060 | #585 | 8 | 12 |
| 1880 | #894 | — | 5 | — |
How popular is Love, counting every spelling?
Love has no other common spelling that sounds the same. Counting every name's spellings together, it ranks #919 for girls in 2025, against #957 on the official list.
How many kids will share the name Love?
269 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Love (0.07 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Love born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 31 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Love.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Love?
About 4,200 people born in the US named Love are alive today, with a median age of 8; half are between 4 and 19. That makes Love a young name: most people with it are children.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Love by state
How common Love was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Nevada (2.2×), Maryland (2.0×), Georgia (1.7×), Pennsylvania (1.5×). In 20 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Love: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Love, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Love · Sibling names for Love
Questions about the name Love
What does Love mean?
Love means “love (word name)” (English, Old English origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Love?
Love was the 957th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 269 babies. Its best year was 2023, when it ranked 732nd; the most babies were born in 2022 (386). Over the last ten years it has moved up 880 places. More babies were named Love in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Is Love a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, 93% girls, 7% boys given the name Love in the US.
Where is Love most popular?
In 2021–2025, Love was most common in Nevada (0.43 per 1,000 girls), followed by Maryland and Georgia.