Virgilio
Masculine · “Not established”
The poet's name was Vergilius, with an e. The spelling with an i is a medieval mistake that won — scribes linked it to virga, a wand, and virgo, a maiden, and the misspelling then gave Virgil a second career in legend as a magician. Virgilio is the Italian and Spanish form of the error.
How old is the name Virgilio?
Virgilio first appears in US birth records in 1916 — 109 years ago. The typical Virgilio alive today was born around 1980, making them about 45 years old. About 1,200 people named Virgilio are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Virgilio most popular?
Virgilio peaked in 1971, reaching #1352 nationally. Today it ranks #7194, 5,842 places below that high. See the whole 1971 chart.
Where it comes from
From Vergilius to Virgilio
The story of Virgilio
Publius Vergilius Maro died in 19 BC and became, within a few centuries, the most-read poet in Europe. By the Middle Ages his name had been respelled with an i, and readers who did not know Latin well began to hear virga, a magic wand, inside it. Out of that grew a full body of legend in which Virgil is a sorcerer of Naples who builds brazen statues and magic gardens, a tradition that ran for four hundred years and is entirely separate from anything he wrote. Dante then made him the guide of the Inferno and Purgatorio, which fixed the name in Italian devotion to the poet. Virgilio is a standard name in Italy, Spain and Latin America; the American figures peak in 1971 with Hispanic families.
Meaningnot established
Not established — a Roman family name
Vergilius was a Roman gens name and has no secure etymology; connections to ver, spring, and to virga, a rod, are both later guesses, and the virga link depends on the misspelling rather than the original form. The medieval respelling Virgilius is what all modern forms descend from — Italian Virgilio, Spanish Virgilio, French Virgile, English Virgil. The honest position is that the meaning is unknown and the famous spelling is wrong.
How the name formed
- Vergilius
- Virgilius
- Virgilio
Related forms: Virgilio · Virgile · Virgil · Virgílio
Pronouncing Virgilio
veer-HEE-lyoh
Four syllables in Spanish with a breathy h for the g, stress on the second. Italian says veer-JEE-lyo with a soft j. English Virgil is VUR-jil, two syllables.
Nicknames for Virgilio
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 boys named
- 197139 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1352reached in 1971
- Change vs 2023
- 0.0%11 in 2025, from 11
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.
Virgilio in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Virgilio in Spanish — same name
- Virgile in French — same name
- Virgil in English — same name
- Virgílio in Portuguese — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas.
Virgilios among us
people named Virgilio are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 155,280 born in 2025 was named Virgilio
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Cosimo test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Virgilio's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Cosimo climbed just as high around 1927, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Cosimo's path sketches the road Virgilio is walking now.
Virgilio 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
Virgilio beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Virgilio in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It carries an unbroken literary association running from Rome through Dante.
- It is settled across Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.
- The English Virgil offers a familiar shorter equivalent.
- The meaning is genuinely unknown, and the famous spelling is a medieval error.
- Spanish and Italian pronounce the g differently, so the name changes across languages.
- Four syllables is long for American everyday use.
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What they receive
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Virgilio
Masculine · #7194 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Virgilios are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,200 people named Virgilio are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Virgilio in 2025?
- Virgilio ranks #7194 among US boy names in 2025, with 11 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Virgilio?
- About 1 in every 155,280 US boys born in 2025 was named Virgilio — 11 in all.
- Will my child share the name Virgilio with classmates?
- Virgilio will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Virgilio
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Junius#7194 · Orie#7194 · Shade#7194 · Chesley#7194 · Joesph#7194 · Lofton#7194 · Macon#7194 · Benjiman#7194
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Virgilio? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Virgilio and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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