Vi
Feminine · “violet”
Vi is given to both — 962 girls and 125 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Two letters is about as short as a name gets. Vi serves Violet, Viola and Vivian equally, and it has been given outright in American records for over a century — a whole name that fits in a corner of a form. It is also the Roman numeral six and the name of a text editor, which are the sort of coincidences a two-letter name cannot avoid.
How old is the name Vi?
Vi first appears in US birth records in 1916 — 109 years ago. The typical Vi alive today was born around 1994, making them about 31 years old. About 900 people named Vi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Vi most popular?
Vi peaked in 1982, reaching #2901 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 10,307 places below that high. See the whole 1982 chart.
Vi appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From viola to Vi
The story of Vi
English has a small set of two-letter names — Al, Ed, Jo, Bo, Vi — and most of them started as short forms and were then given as names in their own right. Vi belongs to that group and appears in American records from 1916, peaking in the early 1980s. Its parent names have had quite different careers: Violet and Vivian are both currently fashionable again, while Viola has stayed quiet. The short form has outlived the fashions of all three.
Meaningscholars disagree
violet, or alive
Which meaning applies depends on the parent name. Violet and Viola are the flower, from the Latin viola. Vivian is from vivus, alive. Both are common enough behind this short form that a Vi may be carrying either, and a great many carry neither, having been given the two letters outright.
How the name formed
- viola
- Violet
- Vi
Related forms: Viola · Vi
Pronouncing Vi
VY
One syllable, rhyming with my. In Vietnamese, where Vi is also a name, it is said VEE, which is a genuine second reading that some American families use.
Nicknames for Vi
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1916
- Most girls named
- 198328 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2901reached in 1982
- Change vs 2024
- −40.0%6 in 2025, from 10
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Vi in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Viola in Latin — related form
- Vi in Vietnamese — related form
Vis among us
people named Vi are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Vi
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Vi
- #13208
- Vi on the 2025 chart
- #932
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Vi went to 6 girls in 2025, but Vy is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 28, which makes it the 932nd most-given girls’ name of the year — 12,276 places above the chart.
- Vy22
- Vi6
About 1 girl in 57,402 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 267,878 for Vi itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Aurelie test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Vi's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Aurelie climbed just as high around 1915, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Aurelie's path sketches the road Vi is walking now.
Vi sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Vi beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Vi in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Two letters and one syllable — nothing shorter is available.
- It shortens three separate names, so it fits a family with any of them behind it.
- There is nothing to abbreviate and nothing to misspell.
- It is recorded for boys as well as girls, though nearly all are girls.
- It is very short, and forms with a minimum character count will reject it — which is a real and recurring nuisance.
- It reads as an initial or an abbreviation to most people.
- Vietnamese says the same two letters quite differently, which matters in a mixed household.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Vi
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Vis are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Vi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Vi?
- Vi is one of 2 recorded spellings. Vy is the more common one — 22 births in 2025 against 6 for Vi.
- How popular is the name Vi in 2025?
- Vi ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Vi?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Vi — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Vi with classmates?
- Vi will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Vi
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
John#13208 · Vinnie#13208 · Margery#13208 · Jossie#13208 · Tressa#13208 · Erie#13208 · Bernadine#13208 · Euna#13208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Vi? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Vi and another name?
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Which one would you pick?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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