A name. A world of connections.

Ove

A given name in French, German and 4 more

masculineLatin script

Hear the name

Swedish

Origin: Not established
6 language contexts: French German Swedish +3 more
Follow the evidence: 7 cited sources Source-reported

01 / Meaning & origin

About Ove

Ove is a masculine given name documented in French, German, Swedish and 3 other languages. English Wiktionary records an etymology for it.

Etymology in the sources

Source-reported

From Old Danish Aghi, possibly a short form of compound names beginning with Germanic agh "blade" or Old Norse agi "awe". Related to German (Frisian) Uwe. Sometimes explained as a form of Scandinavian Åge/Åke.

Sources for this account (5)

Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Greek Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Italian Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Polish Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Turkish Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

02 / Across borders

Where Ove is used

Explore published naming statistics and documented language connections around the world.

The name atlas

Across borders

countries in our sources

Select a country to follow Ove’s connections around the world.

5 countries with published statistics. Language records show cultural connections; they do not measure how common a name is.

Selected country

United States

Published statistics

United States, 1934: 5 boys (rank 3679).

Explore United States

4 of 12 countries

03 / By the numbers

Popularity over time

Follow the spelling through the years, one published dataset at a time.

Norway

1945–2025 Spelling: Ove

Region and dataset

Recorded category boys

Latest · 2025: 7; births; Rank #393
Peak year: 1957; 210 births

Hover to explore a year. Use arrow keys when a chart point has focus.

Source: Statistics Norway · Norway — published individual first-name birth counts, 1945–2025

Published integer counts retained without rounding.

Per million is unavailable: this source has no matching published total.

Show the data table

Ove in Norway, boys: births and rank by year
Year	Births	Rank	Status
1945	135	56	observed
1946	167	53	observed
1947	151	57	observed
1948	148	56	observed
1949	125	62	observed
1950	135	59	observed
1951	183	44	observed
1952	164	51	observed
1953	153	52	observed
1954	167	48	observed
1955	165	51	observed
1956	176	48	observed
1957	210	41	observed
1958	202	43	observed
1959	194	45	observed
1960	202	43	observed
1961	193	43	observed
1962	179	47	observed
1963	185	46	observed
1964	190	49	observed
1965	177	51	observed
1966	178	51	observed
1967	194	49	observed
1968	147	58	observed
1969	137	64	observed
1970	152	60	observed
1971	141	61	observed
1972	137	64	observed
1973	96	91	observed
1974	99	86	observed
1975	83	102	observed
1976	67	112	observed
1977	60	117	observed
1978	53	136	observed
1979	58	130	observed
1980	63	128	observed
1981	58	132	observed
1982	58	135	observed
1983	56	135	observed
1984	33	193	observed
1985	66	124	observed
1986	32	206	observed
1987	35	180	observed
1988	22	240	observed
1989	33	197	observed
1990	18	284	observed
1991	22	248	observed
1992	22	251	observed
1993	16	286	observed
1994	16	287	observed
1995	11	356	observed
1996	8	404	observed
1997	12	322	observed
1998	12	320	observed
1999	6	467	observed
2000	12	320	observed
2001	8	376	observed
2002	7	394	observed
2003	7	421	observed
2004	4	539	observed
2005	7	410	observed
2006	8	385	observed
2007	9	382	observed
2008	5	493	observed
2009	7	445	observed
2010	no value	no value	not covered
2011	no value	no value	not covered
2012	no value	no value	not covered
2013	4	523	observed
2014	no value	no value	not covered
2015	no value	no value	not covered
2016	no value	no value	not covered
2017	no value	no value	not covered
2018	6	438	observed
2019	no value	no value	not covered
2020	no value	no value	not covered
2021	4	454	observed
2022	4	457	observed
2023	4	496	observed
2024	5	435	observed
2025	7	393	observed

About this dataset and its counting rules

Statistics count the spelling “Ove” as recorded by the publisher. When a spelling has several independent origins, the counts are not split between them. Counts measure births. Gaps are years without a published value, not zeros.

Rates per million are unavailable for this series because no compatible denominator has been imported.

Universe: Born persons for the individual girls' and boys' names published in SSB table 10467.
Rounding: Published integer counts retained without rounding.
Suppression: SSB API: '.' means category not applicable; '..' means data not available. Null cells are not emitted and remain unknown, never zero.
Ranking: computed by NameStoria from published counts; ties share a rank, next rank skips

Retrieved 2026-10-15 · CC-BY-4.0

Read our methodology

04 / Through time

History

Notable bearers

People recorded with this given name in Wikidata. Their names may use a different spelling, or include it as a middle or baptismal name.

Karl Ove Knausgård
born 1968
Norwegian author
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Ove Kindvall
1943–2025
Swedish association football player (1943–2025)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Leif Ove Andsnes
born 1970
Norwegian pianist (born 1970)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Ove Andersson
1938–2008
rally driver and Toyota Motorsport boss (1938–2008)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Ove Grahn
1943–2007
Swedish association football player (1943-2007)
Wikipedia Wikidata source

A little story to keep

A name worth keeping.

Take the story of Ove with you. Create a personal name passport with its meaning, roots and connections.

06 / Behind the facts

Sources for this page

Review status: Source-reported — no editorial review recorded yet. Last data change 2026-10-15.

Name origins & languageDictionaries, name records and related forms6

Wikidata Q1760107CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Greek Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Polish Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Italian Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Turkish Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Pronunciation recordingsAudio credits and individual recording licences1

Wikimedia Commons: File:LL-Q9027 (swe)-Moonhouse-Ove.wavCC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Statistics and surveysPublishers, dataset licences and retrieval dates5

Norway — published individual first-name birth counts, 1945–2025
Statistics Norway (SSB) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
SSA national baby names, 1880–2025 (CC0 redistribution)
US Social Security Administration; redistributed by nkrishnaswami · CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Berlin — published first-given-name registration counts, 2017–2023
BerlinOnline GmbH, based on Berlin LABO civil-registry data · CC-BY-3.0-DE · retrieved 2026-10-15
Finland — first given names of living Finnish citizens in Finland or abroad, 2026-08-03
Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
South Australia — Popular Baby Names, per-year lists including names given once, 1944-2017
Attorney-General's Department, South Australia (via data.sa.gov.au) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Wiktionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata: CC0. Commons recordings retain their individual file licences. Complete attribution is available in each group above and alongside each chart.

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About Ove

Ove is a masculine given name documented in French, German, Swedish and 3 other languages. English Wiktionary records an etymology for it.

Etymology in the sources

Source-reported

Sources for this account (5)

Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Greek Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Italian Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Polish Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Turkish Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Where Ove is used

Explore published naming statistics and documented language connections around the world.

The name atlas

Across borders

countries in our sources

Select a country to follow Ove’s connections around the world.

5 countries with published statistics. Language records show cultural connections; they do not measure how common a name is.

Selected country

United States

Published statistics

United States, 1934: 5 boys (rank 3679).

Explore United States

4 of 12 countries

Popularity over time

Follow the spelling through the years, one published dataset at a time.

Norway

1945–2025 Spelling: Ove

Region and dataset

Recorded category boys

Latest · 2025: 7; births; Rank #393
Peak year: 1957; 210 births

Hover to explore a year. Use arrow keys when a chart point has focus.

Source: Statistics Norway · Norway — published individual first-name birth counts, 1945–2025

Published integer counts retained without rounding.

Per million is unavailable: this source has no matching published total.

Show the data table

Ove in Norway, boys: births and rank by year
Year	Births	Rank	Status
1945	135	56	observed
1946	167	53	observed
1947	151	57	observed
1948	148	56	observed
1949	125	62	observed
1950	135	59	observed
1951	183	44	observed
1952	164	51	observed
1953	153	52	observed
1954	167	48	observed
1955	165	51	observed
1956	176	48	observed
1957	210	41	observed
1958	202	43	observed
1959	194	45	observed
1960	202	43	observed
1961	193	43	observed
1962	179	47	observed
1963	185	46	observed
1964	190	49	observed
1965	177	51	observed
1966	178	51	observed
1967	194	49	observed
1968	147	58	observed
1969	137	64	observed
1970	152	60	observed
1971	141	61	observed
1972	137	64	observed
1973	96	91	observed
1974	99	86	observed
1975	83	102	observed
1976	67	112	observed
1977	60	117	observed
1978	53	136	observed
1979	58	130	observed
1980	63	128	observed
1981	58	132	observed
1982	58	135	observed
1983	56	135	observed
1984	33	193	observed
1985	66	124	observed
1986	32	206	observed
1987	35	180	observed
1988	22	240	observed
1989	33	197	observed
1990	18	284	observed
1991	22	248	observed
1992	22	251	observed
1993	16	286	observed
1994	16	287	observed
1995	11	356	observed
1996	8	404	observed
1997	12	322	observed
1998	12	320	observed
1999	6	467	observed
2000	12	320	observed
2001	8	376	observed
2002	7	394	observed
2003	7	421	observed
2004	4	539	observed
2005	7	410	observed
2006	8	385	observed
2007	9	382	observed
2008	5	493	observed
2009	7	445	observed
2010	no value	no value	not covered
2011	no value	no value	not covered
2012	no value	no value	not covered
2013	4	523	observed
2014	no value	no value	not covered
2015	no value	no value	not covered
2016	no value	no value	not covered
2017	no value	no value	not covered
2018	6	438	observed
2019	no value	no value	not covered
2020	no value	no value	not covered
2021	4	454	observed
2022	4	457	observed
2023	4	496	observed
2024	5	435	observed
2025	7	393	observed

About this dataset and its counting rules

Rates per million are unavailable for this series because no compatible denominator has been imported.

Universe: Born persons for the individual girls' and boys' names published in SSB table 10467.
Rounding: Published integer counts retained without rounding.
Suppression: SSB API: '.' means category not applicable; '..' means data not available. Null cells are not emitted and remain unknown, never zero.
Ranking: computed by NameStoria from published counts; ties share a rank, next rank skips

Retrieved 2026-10-15 · CC-BY-4.0

Read our methodology

History

Notable bearers

People recorded with this given name in Wikidata. Their names may use a different spelling, or include it as a middle or baptismal name.

Karl Ove Knausgård
born 1968
Norwegian author
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Ove Kindvall
1943–2025
Swedish association football player (1943–2025)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Leif Ove Andsnes
born 1970
Norwegian pianist (born 1970)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Ove Andersson
1938–2008
rally driver and Toyota Motorsport boss (1938–2008)
Wikipedia Wikidata source
Ove Grahn
1943–2007
Swedish association football player (1943-2007)
Wikipedia Wikidata source

Sources for this page

Review status: Source-reported — no editorial review recorded yet. Last data change 2026-10-15.

Name origins & languageDictionaries, name records and related forms6

Wikidata Q1760107CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Greek Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Polish Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Italian Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14
Turkish Wiktionary: OveCC-BY-SA-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-14

Pronunciation recordingsAudio credits and individual recording licences1

Wikimedia Commons: File:LL-Q9027 (swe)-Moonhouse-Ove.wavCC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Statistics and surveysPublishers, dataset licences and retrieval dates5

Norway — published individual first-name birth counts, 1945–2025
Statistics Norway (SSB) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
SSA national baby names, 1880–2025 (CC0 redistribution)
US Social Security Administration; redistributed by nkrishnaswami · CC0-1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
Berlin — published first-given-name registration counts, 2017–2023
BerlinOnline GmbH, based on Berlin LABO civil-registry data · CC-BY-3.0-DE · retrieved 2026-10-15
Finland — first given names of living Finnish citizens in Finland or abroad, 2026-08-03
Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15
South Australia — Popular Baby Names, per-year lists including names given once, 1944-2017
Attorney-General's Department, South Australia (via data.sa.gov.au) · CC-BY-4.0 · retrieved 2026-10-15

Wiktionary text: CC BY-SA 4.0. Wikidata: CC0. Commons recordings retain their individual file licences. Complete attribution is available in each group above and alongside each chart.

Ove

About Ove

Etymology in the sources

Where Ove is used

Across borders

United States

Popularity over time

Norway

History

Notable bearers

Karl Ove Knausgård

Ove Kindvall

Leif Ove Andsnes

Ove Andersson

Ove Grahn

Owe

Uvo

Uwe

A name worth keeping.

Sources for this page

Ove

About Ove

Etymology in the sources

Where Ove is used

Across borders

United States

Popularity over time

Norway

History

Notable bearers

Karl Ove Knausgård

Ove Kindvall

Leif Ove Andsnes

Ove Andersson

Ove Grahn

Owe

Uvo

Uwe

A name worth keeping.

Sources for this page

A story to pass on.

About Ove

Etymology in the sources

Where Ove is used

Across borders

United States

Popularity over time

Norway

History

Notable bearers

Karl Ove Knausgård

Ove Kindvall

Leif Ove Andsnes

Ove Andersson

Ove Grahn

Related names

Different forms. Shared stories.

Meet the family

Related names in the catalogue

Owe

Uvo

Uwe

A name worth keeping.

Sources for this page

A story to pass on.

About Ove

Etymology in the sources

Where Ove is used

Across borders

United States

Popularity over time

Norway

History

Notable bearers

Karl Ove Knausgård

Ove Kindvall

Leif Ove Andsnes

Ove Andersson

Ove Grahn

Related names

Different forms. Shared stories.

Meet the family

Related names in the catalogue

Owe

Uvo

Uwe

A name worth keeping.

Sources for this page