Vitus

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Boy · Latin

Vitus

Say it: VY-tus

Try it with your surname

Meaning

Origin uncertain; often linked to vita 'life', which is not proven.

Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.

Spread in Central Europe by the cult of St. Vitus (patron of Prague's cathedral) and in southern Italy as Vito.

Its wave through time

Rare in the records

In the United States

19 babies given this name since 1929
At its height in 1929, about 1 in 179,300 boys
Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020

Through the ages

Used by

Latin Early Christian Italian German Czech

The family of the name

Italian	Vito
German	Veit
Czech	Vít
Polish	Wit

Famous bearers

St. Vitus, martyr

Names worth a look

PaulusBoyLatin paulus 'small'.Biblical

SilvanusBoyFrom silva 'forest, wood'; also the name of the Roman god of woodlands.Biblical

RomanusBoyLatin romanus 'Roman'.Rome

MartinusBoyDerived from Mars, the Roman god of war.Rome

FabiusBoyRoman family name that Pliny the Elder derived from faba 'broad bean'.Rome

OctavianusBoyAdoptive name derived from Octavius, ultimately from Octavus 'eighth'.Rome

Where this comes from

Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
Calendars of saints and name days
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.