Virginia
Masculine · “from a Roman family name”
Virginia is given to girls far more often — 652,959 girls against 2,009 boys since 1880. See Virginia as a girl name
The name is not the Latin word for a maiden. It is Verginia, a Roman family name of the kind Roman women carried as a matter of course, and the resemblance to the word for virgin is a later reinterpretation that changed the spelling and then took over the meaning entirely.
How old is the name Virginia?
Virginia first appears in US birth records in 1895 — 130 years ago. The typical Virginia alive today was born around 1935, making them about 90 years old. About 600 people named Virginia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Virginia most popular?
Virginia peaked in 1927, reaching #762 nationally. See the whole 1927 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Verginia to Virginia
The story of Virginia
The first English child born in the Americas carried the colony's name and then vanished with it. She was born on Roanoke Island a few days after the settlers landed, christened for the colony, and was nine days old when her grandfather sailed for England to fetch supplies. War with Spain kept him away for three years. When he finally got back the settlement was empty, the houses taken down, and a word carved into a post with no distress signal beside it. Nobody has ever established what happened. She would be the only member of that colony most people can name.
Meaningscholars disagree
from a Roman family name
The family name's own origin is not established; a connection to a word for a shoot or twig has been suggested. What is reasonably clear is that the association with virginity came afterwards and altered the first vowel.
How the name formed
- Verginia
- Virginia
Related forms: Virginia · Virginia · Virginie
Pronouncing Virginia
vur-JIN-yuh
Three or four syllables depending on how quickly it is said. The stress is on the second, and English routinely collapses the ending into one beat.
Nicknames for Virginia
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
- 1895
- Most boys named
- 192960 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #762reached in 1927
- Change vs 1989
- −40.0%6 in 1991, 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.
Virginia in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Virginia in Italian — same name
- Virginia in Spanish — same name
- Virginie in French — same name
Virginias among us
people named Virginia are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Virginia sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Ginny and Gina sit inside it as short forms with different characters.
- It is recognized across Europe with almost no change of spelling.
- It has stayed in continuous use rather than spiking and vanishing.
- The virginity reading is universal and unavoidable, whatever the etymology says.
- It is a state name, which is noticed constantly in America.
- The record holds a few boys as well, and the boy is much the smaller side.
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What they receive
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Virginia
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Virginias are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Virginia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Virginia in 2025?
- Virginia is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Virginia with classmates?
- Virginia will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More V names
The most-given names starting with V, all years combined.
Vincent#107 · Victor#209 · Vernon#1382 · Virgil#1409 · Van#970 · Vance#1075 · Vicente#589 · Vaughn#1152
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Virginia? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Virginia and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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