Shem Tov Girl's nameOrigin: HebrewIn Israel: steady
TovaIn Hebrew: טובה · meaning, pronunciation and popularity in Israel
With vowel points: טוֹבָה
Tova (Hebrew: טובה) is a girl's name of Hebrew origin. 8,152 people born in Israel between 1949 and 2024 have it today, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). In 2024 it was given to 103 girls and ranked #170. Its peak year was 1950, with 290 babies.
- People in Israel
- 8,152
- born 1949–2024
- Babies in 2024
- 103
- rank #170
- Peak year
- 1950
- 290 babies
- USA, 2025
- 66
- rank #2,607
Writing and saying Tova
In Hebrew letters the name is טובה, read right to left. Tova is the Latin spelling recorded by our review; families choose their own spelling in passports, so you may also meet other forms.
We have no sourced English explanation of this name yet, so we do not guess one. The Hebrew page has our Hebrew notes when there are any.
Tova by year: Israel and abroad
How many girls out of every 10,000 born each year have the name. For Israel it counts the people born that year who carry the name today (the CBS counts residents by year of birth, not birth registrations).
per 10,000 babies of the same sex
Tova in English-speaking countries
| Country / region | Year | Babies | Rank | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2025 | 66 | #2,607 | 2023 (94) |
| United Kingdom | 2025 | 3 | #5,990 | 2017 (12) |
| England and Wales | 2025 | 3 | #5,925 | 2017 (12) |
| Alberta | 2025 | 2 | #1,618 | 2018 (3) |
Counts for girls. The Hebrew page for Tova has every year and the other spellings.
Related Israeli names
Spelling variants and names that look or sound close in Hebrew.
Questions about Tova
How do you write Tova in Hebrew?
Tova is written טובה in Hebrew (with vowel points: טוֹבָה). Hebrew is read right to left.
How many people in Israel are named Tova?
8,152 people born between 1949 and 2024 carry the name טובה: 8,152 women and 0 men. The count comes from the CBS table of current first names by year of birth; years with fewer than 5 people are not published.
Is Tova a boy's or a girl's name?
In Israel it is almost always a girl's name: 100.0% of the people named טובה are women.
Is Tova used outside Israel?
The name Tova appears in the official baby name lists of English-speaking countries. In the United States 66 girls were given it in 2025 (#2,607), per the Social Security Administration. In the UK 3 in 2025 (ONS, NRS and NISRA combined).
Sources
Israel: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), current first names of people born 1949–2024 by sex, population group and year of birth, processed 2026-09-27. CBS publications.
Abroad
- United States: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA)
Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications - National Data
Years 1880–2025 · updated 2026-04-13 · licence: Public domain (U.S. Government work) · names given to fewer than 5 babies a year are not published - England and Wales: Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Baby names in England and Wales: from 1996
Years 1996–2025 · updated 2026-07 · licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 · names given to fewer than 3 babies a year are not published - Alberta: Alberta Vital Statistics
Frequency and ranking of baby names by year and gender
Years 1980–2025 · updated 2026-08-11 · licence: Open Government Licence - Alberta
Counts are copied as published. We only merged accented spellings (Zoë = Zoe) and computed ranks and rates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia and the Open Government Licence – Alberta.