Olive

Spellings & scripts●(measured from records)

Locally spelled Olivé in ES Spain.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●(measured from records)

Attested across 22 languages in the etymology graph.

Other names spelled this way◐(inferred from the name graph)

Olive is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French surname7 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Spain

  Also written Olivé, O'Live, O-Live, Ôlive, Olivè

• a separate name3 spellings in the group

  Also written Olivè, Olivé

• a separate name2 spellings in the group

  Also written Olivé

• Indonesian surname4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Spain

  Also written Olivé

76 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●(measured from records)

Olive is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, Latin 'olive'; used in Ireland to anglicise Elva.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, Latin; symbol of peace; feminine form of Oliver

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In English, A tree of species Olea europaea cultivated since ancient times in the Mediterranean for its fruit and the oil obtained from it.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Italian, forma pl. de Oliva ou matronímico francês

  as a name·Dicionário dos sobrenomes italianos

• In French, Du latin oliva, « olive, olivier »; fête: 12 juillet avec Olivier dans certaines traditions.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Notable people with this name●(measured from records)

• Olive Schreinerb. 1855ZASouth African author and pacifist (1855-1920)
• Olive Higgins Proutyb. 1882USAmerican writer (1882–1974)
• Olive Thomasb. 1894USAmerican silent film actress, model (1894–1920)
• Olive Careyb. 1896USAmerican actress (1896–1988)
• Olive Bordenb. 1906USAmerican actress (1906–1947)
• Olive Deeringb. 1918USAmerican actress (1918–1986)
• Kathryn Crosbyb. 1933USnot in their usual nameAmerican actress (1933–2024)
• David Oliveb. 1937GBBritish physicist (1937-2012)
• Marie Osmondb. 1959USnot in their usual nameAmerican singer and member of The Osmonds
• Olive Grayb. 1994GBBritish actress (born 1994)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●(measured from records)

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Frequently asked questions

What does the name Olive mean, and where does it come from?

from Latin oliva ‘olive’; first attested Olyve 1202 AD ii (Nth) Recorded by A Dictionary of English Surnames.

How common is the name Olive?

In the United States, the national register counted 5,712 people named Olive in 2010, about 1 in 58 thousand residents.

In which country does Olive have the most bearers?

Mondonomo estimates about 24 thousand people named Olive in China, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled olive.

Where is Olive most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Olive is densest in Grenada — about 1 in 1.8 thousand people — even though China holds more of our records for it.