Dear Jennifer,

Navi (NAH-vee) is a name I wanted to add to my list but you do not have it in your database. Looking up other databases I found different results.

I found Navi (nay-vee) as a boys name, based off of “navy”. I found a girls Hebrew origin meaning “to name” and a Hindi, Sanskrit origin meaning “new” but also with varying pronunciations of (nah-vee), (na-vee) and (nay-vee). I also read it is a popular shortened version of names beginning with “navi” in Hindi and Sanskrit.

I have met two females with the name “Navi” but both were nicknames to longer name both of different middle eastern origins.

Any thoughts or different info? Would it be possible to get this name added to the database? Thanks!!

Holly F.

Dear Holly,

Navi_ArtworkNavi is most often used as a female name, originally a diminutive form of the Hindi names Anavi or–like you mentioned–any female name that begins with Nav like Navya, Navita or Navistha. In pop culture, Navi has become more popular due to the fairy character of the same name from the game The Legend of Zelda.

I do not believe it is used as a variation of the word “Navy” and the most likely pronunciation would be “NAH-vee.”

Hope that helps!
Sincerely,
Jennifer

Jennifer Moss (she/her) is the founder of BabyNames.com, author of The Baby Names Workbook, and Producer of The Baby Names Podcast. Jennifer is widely regarded as the leading expert on popular baby name trends and the naming process, serving as the authoritative source on the subject for national and international media.

Jennifer entered the tech arena in the 80s as a software developer and database architect, and became a pioneer in the Internet industry. In addition to operating BabyNames.com, Jennifer owns a web development agency in central California.