Flavia is a feminine

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a f ...

of Latin origin. The name is most commonly used in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

( Portuguese: Flávia) and in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

-speaking countries. It is in occasional use in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, where 18 newborn girls were given the name in 2022.

Origin

Originating from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

word "flavus", meaning "golden" or "blonde", Flavia became an

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...

nomen gentilicium The (; or simply ) was a hereditary name borne by the peoples of Roman Italy and later by the citizens of the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. It was originally the name of one's (family or clan) by Patrilineality, patrilineal descent. Howeve ...

'' for women of the gens Flavia. This

gens In ancient Rome, a gens ( or , ; : gentes ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same ''nomen gentilicium'' and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens, sometimes identified by a distinct cognomen, was cal ...

gave rise to two imperial dynasties, the

Flavian dynasty The Flavian dynasty, lasting from 69 to 96 CE, was the second dynastic line of emperors to rule the Roman Empire following the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Julio-Claudians, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian and his two sons, Titus and Domitian. Th ...

of the 1st-century and the

Constantinian dynasty The Constantinian dynasty is an informal name for the ruling family of the Roman Empire from Constantius Chlorus (died 306) to the death of Julian in 363. It is named after its most famous member, Constantine the Great, who became the sole rule ...

of the 2nd and 3rd-centuries, their use of the name (and its masculine counterpart ''

Flavius The gens Flavia was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Its members are first mentioned during the last three centuries of the Republic. The first of the Flavii to achieve prominence was Marcus Flavius, tribune of the plebs in 327 and 323 BC; how ...

'') helped spread its popularity in the ancient world. As a nomen Flavia is the name of

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

s: Flavia Domitilla, wife of Clemens, Flavia Domitilla and Flavia.

Notable people

* Flavia Arcaro (1876–1937), American actress * Flavia Bujor (born 1988), Romanian-born French novelist *

Flavia Cacace Flavia Cacace-Mistry (born 1980) is an Italian British professional dancer. Her professional dance partner is Vincent Simone (they are branded when performing together as 'Vincent and Flavia'), and between 2006-2012 both partners appeared on t ...

(born 1980), Italian dancer * Flavia Eberhard (born 1976), Brazilian free-diver * Flavia Fortunato (born 1964), Italian singer, actress and television presenter * Flávia de Oliveira (born 1983), Brazilian model * Flavia Pansieri (born 1951), Italian former United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, Assistant Secretary-General *

Flavia Pennetta Flavia Pennetta (; born 25 February 1982) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top-ten female singles player on 17 August 2009 and the first Italian to be ranked List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis pla ...

(born 1982), Italian tennis player * (born 1978), Brazilian voice actress. *

Flávia Saraiva Flávia Lopes Saraiva (born 30 September 1999) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She represented Brazil at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, and the 2024 Summer Olympic ...

(born 1999), Brazilian artistic gymnast * Flavia Schwarz (born 1986), Swiss footballer * Flavia Tartaglini (born 1985), Italian sport sailor * Flavia Tumusiime (born 1989), Ugandan actress, model, radio and television personality

Notable people with the spelling "Flavie"

* * * * *

As a surname

Fictional characters

* Flavia Brent, a character in the play ''

Noises Off ''Noises Off'' is a 1982 farce by the English playwright Michael Frayn. Frayn conceived the idea in 1970 while watching from the wings a performance of '' The Two of Us'', a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave. He said, "It was funni ...

'' *

Flavia Gemina Flavia (Latin for "blonde") may refer to: Places * Flavia Caesariensis, a 4th-century Roman province in the Diocese of the Britains * Flaviac, a commune in southern France People * Flavia (gens), the Roman clan and imperial dynasty * Flavia (name) ...

, a character in '' The Roman Mysteries'' * Princess Flavia, a character in ''

The Prisoner of Zenda ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' is an 1894 adventure novel by Anthony Hope, in which the King of Ruritania is drugged on the eve of his coronation and thus is unable to attend the ceremony. Political forces within the realm are such that, in o ...

'' and its sequel ''

Rupert of Hentzau ''Rupert of Hentzau'' is a sequel by Anthony Hope to '' The Prisoner of Zenda'', written in 1895 but not published in book form until 1898. The novel was serialized in ''The Pall Mall Magazine'' and '' McClure's Magazine'' from December 1897 ...

'' *

Flavia de Luce ''The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie '' is a 2009 mystery by Alan Bradley. Set in the English countryside in 1950, it features Flavia de Luce, an 11-year-old amateur sleuth who pulls herself away from her beloved chemistry lab in order to c ...

, a character in the Alan Bradley mystery series * Flavia, a character from the Latin textbook '' Ecce Romani''

Buildings

* Porto Flavia

References

{{given name Given names derived from colors Italian feminine given names Romanian feminine given names Spanish feminine given names Latin feminine given names