Virginia

Girl · Latin

Virginia

Say it: vur-JIN-yuh

Try it with your surname

Meaning

From the Roman family name Verginius, of uncertain origin, though long associated with Latin virgo 'maiden'.

Likelythe main view, with some doubt.

Given in English from the colony named for Elizabeth I, the 'Virgin Queen', it was a top-ten US name around 1920.

Its wave through time

Fading since the 1920s

In the United States

652,084 babies given this name since 1880
At its height in 1922, about 1 in 63 girls
501 babies in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

Latin Italian Spanish English American French

The family of the name

Other spellings: Verginia

Italian	Virginia
Spanish	Virginia
French	Virginie
Portuguese	Virgínia

Famous bearers

Verginia, legendary Roman maiden
Virginia Dare, first English child born in the Americas
Virginia Woolf, English writer

Names worth a look

CynthiaGirlGreek, 'woman of Mount Kynthos', an epithet of Artemis.Greece · peak 1957

VictoriaGirlLatin victoria 'victory'.Rome · peak 1993

JuliaGirlLatin, feminine of Julius, a Roman family name of uncertain origin; the meaning 'youthful' found on name lists is a…Biblical · peak 1885

EmilyGirlFrom Latin Aemilia, the feminine of the Roman family name Aemilius, possibly from aemulus 'rival'. The meaning…Rome · peak 1999

DianaGirlThe Roman goddess of the hunt and the moon; her name is probably from an old Indo-European root meaning 'divine, of…Rome · peak 1946

PaulaGirlLatin, feminine of Paulus 'small'.Rome · peak 1963

VirgilBoyFrom the Roman poet's family name Vergilius, of unknown origin.Victorian · peak 1918

VirgieGirlA pet form of Virginia, from the Roman family name Verginius, of unknown meaning; the link to Latin virgo 'maiden'…Victorian · peak 1904 · forgotten

Where this comes from

Roman literature and history (Livy, Cicero, Tacitus and others)
Colonial records of the Americas
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
National birth statistics of European countries source
United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.