Olive is a feminine given name of English origin meaning ''

olive tree The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

''. The name is associated with

peace Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (suc ...

because of the symbolism of the

olive branch The olive branch, a ramus of '' Olea europaea'', is a symbol of peace. It is generally associated with the customs of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, and is connected with supplication to divine beings and persons in power. Likewise, it is f ...

. An

olive wreath The olive wreath, also known as ''kotinos'' (), was the prize for the winner at the ancient Olympic Games. It was a olive branch, branch of the Olea oleaster, wild olive tree ''Elaia Kallistephanos'' that grew at Olympia, Greece, Olympia, intertw ...

has traditionally been worn by

champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world champi ...

s as a symbol of

victory The term victory (from ) originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal duel, combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes a strategic vi ...

. It has also been seen as a symbol of fruitfulness.

Popularity

Olive came into fashion in

English-speaking The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the largest language ...

countries in the 1800s along with other tree, plant and flower names for girls and was a more popular name during that era than the related Olivia, which has been among the most popular names for girls in recent years. Olive was among the top hundred names for girls 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 ...

in the late 1800s and early 1900s and remained among the top one thousand names through 1950. The name declined in popularity in the latter half of the twentieth century. Its increase in usage in the early twenty-first century has coincided with the popularity of Olivia. It also increased in popularity after the release of the 2006 film ''

Little Miss Sunshine ''Little Miss Sunshine'' is a 2006 American tragicomedy road movie, road film directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (in their directorial debut) from a screenplay written by Michael Arndt. The film stars an ensemble cast consisting of G ...

'' and the 2010 film ''

Easy A ''Easy A'' (stylized as ''easy A'') is a 2010 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Will Gluck, written by Bert V. Royal, and starring Emma Stone, Penn Badgley, Amanda Bynes, Thomas Haden Church, Patricia Clarkson, Cam Gigandet, L ...

'', both of which featured a lead character named Olive. In the film ''Easy A'', Olive is said to be an

anagram An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...

of the words “I

love Love is a feeling of strong attraction and emotional attachment (psychology), attachment to a person, animal, or thing. It is expressed in many forms, encompassing a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most su ...

.” Author Laura Wattenberg notes that the name is “aggressively contrarian” and atypical of the style of names that have been popular in recent years but its

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...

style might explain its increase in usage. Olive has again been among the top one thousand names for newborn American girls since 2007, among the top three hundred names for girls since 2012 and among the top two hundred most popular names for American girls since 2020. Olive also ranked among the top 150 names for newborn girls in Canada in 2023. Olive has been similarly popular in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, where it has been among the top five hundred names for girls since 2008 and was among the hundred most popular names for girls in 2020.

People

Given name

* Olive (martyr) (Blessed Olive), a Catholic martyr from Italy *

Olive, Lady Baillie Olive, Lady Baillie (24 September 1899 – 9 September 1974) was an Anglo-American heiress, landowner and hostess. She is best known as the owner of Leeds Castle, near Maidstone, Kent, England. On her death the castle was bequeathed to a charita ...

(1899–1974), Anglo-American heiress, landowner and hostess * Olive Ayhens (born 1943), American visual artist * Olive Beamish (1890–1978), Irish born suffragette, used pseudonym 'Phyllis Brady' when arrested and force-fed * Olive Checkland (1920–2004), English historian and writer * Olive Cook (1912–2002), British writer and artist *

Olive E. Dana Olive E. Dana (December 24, 1859 – February 3, 1904) was an American writer of short-stories, essays, poetry, and sketches. In her literary work, Dana showed her New England heritage. She was born in Augusta, Maine, in 1859, where she always ...

(1859-1904), American author * Olive Dehn (1914–2007), English children's writer and poet * Olive Dutton Green (1878–1930), Australian artist * Olive Edmundson, British horticulturalist * Olive Fremstad (1871–1951), Swedish-American opera singer * Olive Fitzhardinge (1881–1956), Australian rose breeder * Olive Stott Gabriel (1872–1944), American activist, clubwoman, and lawyer * Olive Myrtle Henderson (1877–1957), African American dentist * Olive Hirst (1912–1994), English advertising agent * Olive Morris (1952–1979), British community leader and activist *

Olive Osmond Olive May Osmond (née Davis; May 4, 1925 – May 9, 2004) was the matriarch of the American The Osmonds, Osmond singing family. Life and career She was born in Malad City, Idaho, to Vera Ann (née Nichols) and Thomas Martin Davis. After high ...

(1925–2004) was the matriarch of the American Osmond singing family * Kirchner - olive-thomas

Olive Pink Olive Muriel Pink (17 March 1884 – 6 July 1975) was an Australian Botany, botanical illustrator, Anthropology, anthropologist, gardener, and activist for Aboriginal rights who spent much of her life in Central Australia. Pink spent much of h ...

(1884–1975), Australian botanical illustrator and activist for Aboriginal rights * Olive Sagapolu (born 1997), American football player * Olive Sanxay (1873-1965), American poet *

Olive Schreiner Olive Schreiner (24 March 1855 – 11 December 1920) was a South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual. She is best remembered today for her novel '' The Story of an African Farm'' (1883), which has been highly acclaimed. It dea ...

(1855–1920), South African author, anti-war campaigner and intellectual * Olive Senior (born 1941), Jamaican poet *

Olive Smith (masseuse) Olive Smith (1880 – 5 October 1916) was a British Massage, masseuse and physical training instructor in the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service (SWH) in Serbia during World War I. She died of malaria, within two months of volunteeri ...

(1880-1916), British masseuse physical training instructor, Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service in World War I *

Olive Thomas Olive Thomas (born Olive R. Duffy; October 20, 1894 – September 10, 1920) was an American silent-film actress, art model, and photo model. Her birth certificate appears to list her name as Oliva but this is widely thought to be an error. In th ...

(1894-1920), American silent-film actress, art model, and photo model * Olive Webb, New Zealand clinical psychologist * Olive Young (actress) (1903–1940), Chinese-American actress * Olive Zorian (1916–1965), English violinist

Surname

* Fernand Olive (1891-1949), French general * Jean-Baptiste Olive (1848–1936), French painter * Milton L. Olive, III (1946–1965), United States Army soldier during the Vietnam War * Rich Olive (1949–2016), American politician

Fictional characters

* Olive Oyl has been a popular cartoon characterOlive, heroine of ''

Olive, the Other Reindeer ''Olive, the Other Reindeer'' is a 1999 American animated Christmas comedy musical television film written by Steve Young, based on the 1997 children's book by Vivian Walsh and J. Otto Seibold, and directed by Academy Award-nominated animator ...

'', an animated Christmas special *Olive, The Bash St. Kids' school cook *Olive Doyle, a main character from the show '' A.N.T. Farm'' *Olive, a main character from the show ''

Elinor Wonders Why ''Elinor Wonders Why'' is an animated television series created by Jorge Cham and Daniel Whiteson. The series premiered on September 7, 2020 from PBS Kids. The series is animated using Toon Boom Harmony. Overview The exploration-themed show en ...

'' *

Olive Kitteridge ''Olive Kitteridge'' is a 2008 novel or short story cycle by American author Elizabeth Strout. Set in Maine in the fictional coastal town of Crosby, it comprises 13 stories that are interrelated but narratively discontinuous and non-chronologi ...

, the title character of a novel by Elizabeth Strout *Agent Olive, from the show '' ''Odd Squad'''' in Season 1 *Olive Hoover, a main character in the film ''

'' *Olive Hornby, a minor character important to the backstory of ''Harry Potter'' character

Moaning Myrtle The following is a list of characters from the ''Harry Potter'' series. Each character appears in at least one ''Harry Potter''–related book or story by J. K. Rowling. These books and stories include the seven original ''Harry Potter'' nove ...

*Olive Ostrovsky, a main character from the musical ''The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'' *

Olive Oyl Olive Oyl is a cartoon character created by E. C. Segar in 1919 for his comic strip ''Thimble Theatre''. The strip was later renamed ''Popeye'' after the sailor character that became the most popular member of the cast; however, Olive Oyl was a ...

, Popeye's girlfriend *Olive Penderghast, the protagonist of the 2010 film ''

'' *Olive Rozalski, a main character from the 2019 TV show ''

Sydney to the Max ''Sydney to the Max'' is an American comedy television series created by Mark Reisman that aired on Disney Channel from January 25, 2019 to November 26, 2021. The series stars Ruth Righi, Ava Kolker, Jackson Dollinger, Christian J. Simon, Ian ...

'' *Olive Rudge, from the 1969 TV show ''

On the Buses ''On the Buses'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom that was broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 1969 to 1973. It was created by Chesney and Wolfe, Ronald Chesney and Ronald Wolfe, who wrote most of the episodes. It spawned thr ...

'' *

Olive Snook The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

, from the 2007 TV show ''

Pushing Daisies ''Pushing Daisies'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Bryan Fuller that aired on ABC from October 3, 2007, to June 13, 2009. The series stars Lee Pace as Ned, a pie-maker with the ability to bring dead things back to lif ...

'' *Olive Stone, from the 2018 TV show ''

Manifest Manifest may refer to: Computing * Manifest file, a metadata file that enumerates files in a program or package * Manifest (CLI), a metadata text file for CLI assemblies Events * Manifest (convention), a defunct anime festival in Melbourne, Au ...

'' *Olive, a main character from the 2011 TV show '' Justin Time''

Notes

English feminine given names Feminine given names Given names derived from plants or flowers {{given name