Nave
A surname with several possible roots, most likely from a place-name or a descriptive term used in different families.
The #6,819 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 62,423 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The surname Nave appears to have more than one possible origin. In some cases it may be a locational name, while in others it may come from a descriptive or occupational word recorded in older regional sources. One old Cornish discussion links forms like nave and nava with an office or role under a superior, but that explanation is speculative rather than certain. Another possibility, mentioned in later surname dictionaries, is that some bearers of Nave were connected with continental forms such as Nafe or Naveau.
History
The name is uncommon in the United States and seems to have arisen independently in more than one family line. Nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century surname writers connected similar spellings to England, Cornwall, France, Germany, and possibly Norman or Scandinavian forms, which suggests a mixed and unstable history rather than a single fixed origin. Because the surviving references are brief and sometimes speculative, the surname is best treated as etymologically uncertain.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
An early Cornish etymology tried to relate Nave-like forms to a person acting as a steward, messenger, or deputy under someone else.
From the historical record
“II. JK. iL Cr. Ttemai Gab-Nave (I.e. Thonai, the aervaul o< Gab), 1379 : F. T. York*. '^L^don, .<!; Hew York, I; Fhila-”
— A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with special American instances