Entry № 3732 · Old English origin

Godiva Godiva — Meaning, Origin & Baby Name Popularity

/ go-DIE-vah /
Gender
Girl
Origin
Old English
Meaning
"God's gift"
Syllables
3
First recorded
Medieval (Old English)

A name that means "god's gift".

Godiva is the Latinized form of the Old English Godgifu — combining god (God) and gifu (gift). Lady Godiva (c. 990-1067) was the Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through Coventry to convince her husband to reduce taxes on the townspeople.

Godiva is rare but iconic.

God's gift. The legendary Coventry rider.

The name in its native script.

Godgifu
Transliteration
Godgifu
Pronunciation
/ ɡoʊˈdaɪ.və /
Root
Grammatical form

Where Godiva stands.

Godiva does not currently appear in the US Social Security Administration's top 1,000 girls' names, so we don't publish a US rank or birth count for it. That says nothing about the name's standing elsewhere in the world — only that it sits outside the ranked US data we rely on.

Godivas before her.

Real people
Lady Godiva
Anglo-Saxon noblewoman.
c. 990 – 1067
In fiction
Godiva
Legendary Coventry rider.
English legend

Names connected to Godiva.

The number behind Godiva.

4

The Builder

In Pythagorean numerology the letters of Godiva reduce to 4, The Builder. This is a traditional interpretive system, not a factual claim about the name.