In the past year, I know two couples who either named their daughter Olive, or would have named their daughter Olive had the baby been a girl. I’m a little confused by this.
Some questions for the Teeming Millions:
-Have you ever known someone (not counting Popeye’s girlfriend) named Olive?
-Do you think this is a pretty/cute name for a girl?
-Would you name your daughter Olive?
My grandmother, Olive Rosewood, born. c.1890 in Suffolk, England.
I think, for quite a few years now (certainly in the UK), there has been a resurge in popularity for what were once regarded as very old fashioned names, such as Ruby, Maud and Frank. Olive is just another. It is quite cute, if I can erase the image of my long departed and slightly terrifying nanna.
No, but I have no issue with those that do.
The Pulitzer prize winning novel from just few years age was named Olive Kitteridge. That may have spurred some literary types to choose that name for their daughter.
I suspect it’s more likely to be (or more commonly) the lead character from the film Easy A (played by Emma Stone, and kind of a badass) that inspired the name’s newfound popularity.
I think it’s a cute name but I wouldn’t saddle my kid with it. It just has a vaguely comical feel to it.
My 4-year-old is in a preschool class with a girl named Olive and a boy named Oliver. One of my wife’s coworkers has a daughter named Olive, also about 4 or 5.
I agree with SanVito that there seems to be a little resurgence in names that were previously seen as old-fashioned (e.g., another friend of my 4-year-old is named Victor). I kind of like the name Olive, although I don’t think I would have liked it enough to give to my daughter.
ETA: Oh yeah, I forgot about Easy A. That was a pretty good movie.
Oliver seems to be making a comeback. I hear a lot of little guys called “Ollie” now.
I would also guess, Olivia has been a popular name for awhile, so some parents like it but realize it’s overused so they go with Olive instead.
Just this past year I’ve run into three Oscars, and I have never met someone with that name before so maybe it’s an “O” thing 
I was under the impression that the wife of Sir Robert, later Lord, Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting for boys — and then with her, Guiding for girls — was christened Olive, but I see she was Lady Olave. So no.
Olave would be a form of Olaf, and there is a village called St. Olaves in Norfolk and a lot of schools etc. named after St. Olaf, King of Norway, a very christian gentleman, but it’s uncommon: as is Olive. I would have guessed Olive to be the direct feminine of Oliver, but it seems to have come from Olivia, the Germanic sounding such.
I have no objections to either, but would only name my daughters or kittens if I was running out of names; a puppy certainly.
Makes me think of Olive Oyl first, then Olive, the Other Reindeer and finally Olive Osmond. So, not great associations there. When I try to think of just the sound of it without making any associations it does not sound pretty my ears. Olivia is lovely though. Also, Oliver is a cat’s name.
I wonder if the popularity of the character is what killed the use of the name.
Lots of old-fashioned nature/flower names for girls right now. I know small people named Violet, Olive, and Rose.
It’s pretty.
The Baby Name Voyager shows a big jump for “Oliver” lately, and a smaller jump for “Olive” (click on “boy” or “girl” to separate them). It looks like Olive fell out of use around 1950 and came back around 2009.
Don’t forget Olive Hurklozov, the renowned Russian stripper.
Our main babysitter for two years was named Olive. I love the name – I think it’s a great name for a girl.
Drew Barrymore named one of her daughters Olive. Her other daughter is Frankie. “Frankie and Olive” is an adorable combination.
Do I think it’s pretty? Yes.
Would I name my daughter Olive? Yes.
There have been so many Brittneys and Christys and other ‘cute’ names over the last decade that I love the return to simpler, old fashioned names. I named my own (now 10 year old) daughter ‘Nora’ partly due to this.
Some friend’s mother is name Olive, though I can’t remember which friend at the moment. Seems like a perfectly cromulent name for a woman. Personally I find Olivia to be a little more pleasant. The problem is people will call her Olive Oyl.
As everyone else has mentioned, old-fashioned baby names are having a resurgence.
If you’re ever interested in the relative popularity of a name, simply go to the Social Security website and they’ll give you a graph of its popularity through the years. See here: Popular Baby Names
If I pop in “Olive”, it shows me that it was the 95th most popular girl’s name in 1900, then steadily declined until it fell below the threshold of 1,000 most popular girl’s names in 1951. It stayed below the measurable threshold until 2007, when it resurfaced as 990th most popular and steadily climbed to 282nd most popular in 2014. It’s quite a comeback.
ETA: I think everyone’s concern about Olive Oyl is pretty hilarious. My kids have never heard of Popeye and unless they make Pixar reboot, I doubt they ever will.
30 years ago, it might be the name someone would give a plain woman in a sitcom. Now it’s back again. That’s how the world turns. What price Phyllis, Doris, Ethel, Gertrude? Alfred (or least Alfie) is now not so uncommon in the UK, where before it had the same sort of status. Maybe Ethelred and Athelstan are in for a comeback (interesting to see if The Last Kingdom will have an effect).
Barrymore was the voice actress of the title character in the cartoon “Olive the Other Reindeer,” so that probably inspired her daughter’s name.
Olivia Benson and Olive Snook are two other recent Olives. I’ve always liked the name.
Do people even still watch Popeye cartoons? I haven’t seen one in at least a decade of couchsurfing.