Livia
Still rare enough that most Poles have never met one, though it's on its way back: more girls got the name last year than in years past. The root is Latin, from *lividus*, "bluish" and by extension "envious".
Livia Pronunciation
What Livia means
Where Livia comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Livia comes from Latin, from the Roman family name Livius. The gens Livia was one of the old republican clans, and the name marked a person as belonging to it. The best known bearer is Livia Drusilla, wife of the emperor Augustus, whose political weight shaped Rome for decades. Grammarians later tied the name to the adjective lividus, meaning bluish or envious, the same root that gives English livid.
That darker gloss, envy and a bruised blue, sits oddly on a name now given freely to daughters. In Polish the variant is Liwia, spelled with a w, and it appears on class registers beside the older Latin form. A teacher reading roll call may meet both spellings in one room.
So the name holds two stories. One is lineage, a claim to the house of the Livii. The other is colour, the pale blue that Latin also read as envy. Today the sound remains and the older sense of lividus rests, while the spelling Liwia settles it firmly in Polish.
How many people are named Livia
1 in 12380 women in Poland is named Livia. 1,821 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #735 among female names.
Livia's popularity over time
92 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #256 among newborns. It is making a comeback after a low in 2003.
Where parents choose Livia
Livia is most popular in Opole, 82% above the national average (26 girls born 2019–2025), followed by West Pomeranian (+76%) and Lubusz (+49%). It is least common in Masovian and Lesser Poland, 44% and 35% below average respectively.
-
Opole
+82%1 in 1,773 babies
-
West Pomeranian
+76%1 in 1,835 babies
-
Lubusz
+49%1 in 2,159 babies
-
Masovian
−44%1 in 5,808 babies
-
Lesser Poland
−35%1 in 4,933 babies
-
Subcarpathian
−33%1 in 4,823 babies
-
Opole+82% 26 born1 in 1,773 babies+82%
-
West Pomeranian+76% 46 born1 in 1,835 babies+76%
-
Lubusz+49% 23 born1 in 2,159 babies+49%
-
Lower Silesian+42% 69 born1 in 2,277 babies+42%
-
Pomeranian+38% 63 born1 in 2,338 babies+38%
-
Silesian+32% 93 born1 in 2,447 babies+32%
-
Greater Poland+8% 72 born1 in 2,989 babies+8%
-
Warmian-Masurian+3% 23 born1 in 3,121 babies+3%
-
Łódź−6% 37 born1 in 3,425 babies−6%
-
Holy Cross−7% 16 born1 in 3,465 babies−7%
-
Lublin−9% 29 born1 in 3,541 babies−9%
-
Kuyavian-Pomeranian−20% 27 born1 in 4,051 babies−20%
-
Podlaskie−31% 14 born1 in 4,699 babies−31%
-
Subcarpathian−33% 25 born1 in 4,823 babies−33%
-
Lesser Poland−35% 46 born1 in 4,933 babies−35%
-
Masovian−44% 61 born1 in 5,808 babies−44%
Livia as a middle name
Livia is a first name for 1,821 women in Poland and a middle name for another 222, an 89/11 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 454th, between Cecilia (222) and Modesta (220).
-
#452 Clara224
-
#453 Cecilia222
-
#454 Livia222
-
#455 Modesta220
-
#456 Szarlota220