Novalee
Novalee was the 977th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 261 babies. Its best year was 2024, when it ranked 743rd with 379 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 173 places. More babies were named Novalee in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Meaning Origin not documented
Say it NOH-vuh-lee /ˈnoʊvəli/
- Rank in 2025
- #977 girls, down 166 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 261girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 2024379 babies
- Total since 1880
- 4,567babies recorded
What does the name Novalee mean?
Novalee is a modern American girls' name, recorded from 1962 and much more common in recent years. No dictionary we checked documents it. It looks like a blend of Nova, the astronomers' word for a new star, from Latin nova, new, as the American Heritage Dictionary notes, with the -lee ending of many recent names. We do not give the name a meaning beyond its parts.
How sure is this? Not documented. Undocumented modern blend.
Related names: Nova, Novah, Novaleigh.
Sources for this meaning
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (yob*.txt), team3 computation of first year recorded, US Social Security Administration (public domain)
- Wiktionary, entry 'Novalee' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th ed., entry 'nova' (etymology), HarperCollins / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Nicknames for Novalee
The usual nicknames for Novalee are Nova. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Novalee in the last five years, 1541 were named Nova, against 197 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nova | Modern | #46 | 26,512 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Novalees go by each one.
Novalee popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #977 | 261 |
| 2020 | #811 | 335 |
| 2010 | #3,000 | 57 |
| 2000 | #7,917 | 13 |
| 1990 | — | — |
| 1980 | — | — |
| 1970 | — | — |
| 1960 | — | — |
| 1950 | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Novalee, counting every spelling?
Novalee is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #765 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #977 for Novalee on its own. Together these spellings went to 358 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Novalee | 261 | #977 | 1,720 |
| Novalie | 70 | #2,531 | 417 |
| Novali | 11 | #9,300 | 97 |
| Novaly | 8 | #11,654 | 52 |
| Novalea | 8 | #11,652 | 37 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Novalee?
261 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Novalee (0.07 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Novalee 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 32 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Novalee.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Novalee?
About 4,500 people born in the US named Novalee are alive today, with a median age of 7; half are between 4 and 11. That makes Novalee 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.
Novalee by state
How common Novalee was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in West Virginia (4.3×), Kentucky (2.6×), Arkansas (2.5×), Indiana (2.0×), Tennessee (1.9×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Maryland, Minnesota, Utah.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Novalee: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Novalee, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Novalee · Sibling names for Novalee
Questions about the name Novalee
How popular is the name Novalee?
Novalee was the 977th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 261 babies. Its best year was 2024, when it ranked 743rd with 379 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 173 places. More babies were named Novalee in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Is Novalee a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Novalee in the US.
Where is Novalee most popular?
In 2021–2025, Novalee was most common in West Virginia (0.92 per 1,000 girls), followed by Kentucky and Arkansas.