| Alva | Astrid | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Elf | Divinely beautiful |
| Origin | Norse | norse |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | AHL-vah | AS-trid |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1880 | 1892 |
| Peak year | 1918 (196) | 2024 (822) |
| In 2025 | 22 | 818 |
| Trend | Rising | Near its peak |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Alva | Astrid |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 176 | 4,578 |
| 2010s | 197 | 3,352 |
| 2000s | 132 | 2,050 |
| 1990s | 157 | 1,499 |
| 1980s | 279 | 575 |
| 1970s | 316 | 347 |
| 1960s | 519 | 337 |
| 1950s | 797 | 170 |
| 1940s | 875 | 142 |
| 1930s | 1,185 | 244 |
| 1920s | 1,591 | 247 |
| 1910s | 1,404 | 426 |
| 1900s | 604 | 132 |
| 1890s | 475 | 46 |
| 1880s | 182 | 0 |
Alva comes from the Old Norse for “elf,” a being of light.
From Old Norse Ástríðr, from áss 'god' + fríðr 'beautiful, fair, beloved'. Here 'fríðr' genuinely means 'beautiful/fair' (not merely light-colored), giving the standard gloss 'divinely beautiful'. Old Germanic dithematic names resist a single tidy translation, but the beauty element is well attested.
Astrid is more popular than Alva today: about 818 US babies were given the name Astrid in 2025, compared with 22 named Alva.
Alva means Elf (Norse origin), while Astrid means Divinely beautiful (norse origin).
In US records, Alva first appears in 1880 and Astrid in 1892, so Alva has the longer recorded history.