Latin oliva, or Old Norse Aleifr, "ancestor's descendant" — olive tree; elf army. Roland's companion in the Song of Roland; Dickens gave it to his orphan in 1838.
Oliver ranks 3rd among American boys in 2025, with 14,963 born that year. Its best year was 2024, when 15,421 babies were given the name, ranking 3rd. The typical living American called Oliver is about 9 years old today. It is relatively most common in Vermont, where it accounts for 1.60% of births.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.