Liv

Norse
"life"

Liv Origin and Meaning

The name Liv is a girl's name of Scandinavian, Norse origin meaning "life".

The fame of actress and Aerosmith daughter Liv Tyler helped to infuse life into this short but solid Scandinavian name that was chosen for her daughter by Julianne Moore.

Liv Tyler was given the name after her mother, Bebe Buell, saw an image of Norwegian actress Liv Ullmann on the cover of TV Guide shortly before her daughter's birth.

Liv combines the succinct charm of a nickname—people might assume it's short for Olivia—with the solidity of being a classic stand-alone Scandinavian name with a life-force meaning.

Unlike its popular cousin Olivia, Liv has never risen that high in the US ranks, but it is a Top 100 girls' name in a range of international places, from Scandinavia to Switzerland to Israel.

# 702 in the US

Liv Rank in US Top 1000

# 508 on Nameberry

Liv Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Liv Popularity

Famous People Named Liv

  • Liv Rundgren Tyler
    American actress, daughter of singer Steven Tyler
  • Liv Johanne Ullmann
    Norwegian actress and director
  • Liv Lindeland
    Norwegian model and actress
  • Liv Kristine (Espenæs Krull)
    Norwegian heavy metal singer of bands Atrocity and Leaves' Eyes
  • Olivia "Liv" Boeree
    English poker player, presenter and model
  • Liv Ragnheim Arnesen
    Norwegian skier and adventurer
  • Liv Grete Skjelbreid Poirée
    Norwegian Olympic biathlete
  • Liv Strædet
    Norwegian footballer
  • Liv Helen Freundlich (b.2002)
    daughter of actress Julianne Moore
  • Liv Elena Roberts (b.2013)
    daughter of American actress Alana de la Garza
  • Liv Ezra (b.2016)
    daughter of model Bar Rafaeli and Adi Ezra
  • Liv Lee North (b.2017)
    daughter of Jon and Jessica North

Liv in Pop Culture

  • Olivia "Liv" Benson
    detective on Law & Order: SVU
  • Olivia "Liv" Lerner
    character in movie "Bride Wars"
  • Liv
    character in movie "Duets"
  • Olivia "Liv" Rooney
    character on TV's "Liv and Maddie"
  • Olivia "Liv" Durand
    a character in Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia's Caster Chronicles
  • Liv Malone
    character on TV's "Skins"
  • Liv Parker
    character on TV's "The Vampire Diaries"
  • Olivia "Liv" Moore
    main character on TV's "iZombie"
  • Liv Lambros
    character in Rachael Allen's "The Revenge Playbook"