Vivian Name Meaning

A mature pick ripe with cheery nicknames, Vivian is a timeless classic that’s bursting with style and elegance. With her meaning of “alive,” she’s the perfect name for the newest member of your family.

Originally a male name, little Vivian has mostly left the unisex space stateside to become a solidly female choice much like Evelyn. This doesn’t mean you can’t draw inspiration from her past male associations, however, like human rights activist Vivian Wilson Henderson. She does have plenty of modern female wearers as well like actress Vivian Bang and Olympic runner Vivian Cheruiyot. You may also recognize her from Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood as the character Vivian Walker.

Like other vintage girl names, Vivian has an air of sophistication to her that’s hard not to love. She is, of course, fashionable and regal on an adult, but she can be lightened up with Viv or Vivi on a little one. That doesn’t mean she can’t work on a teetering toddler as well, as more and more old-fashioned picks are appearing on the playground and Vivian herself is a lively one.

Vivian does have tons of alternative spellings to contend with including Vivienne, Viviane, and Vivien, though Vivian tends to be the most commonly used.

Infographic of Vivian name meaning, which is Vivian is derived from the Latin vivus, meaning alive.
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Vivian Name Popularity

How popular is the name Vivian? Here’s everything we know.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 105 777 0.2207%
1911 80 1,198 0.3217%
1912 84 1,465 0.2905%
1913 83 1,709 0.3014%
1914 81 2,068 0.2967%
1915 78 2,854 0.3141%
1916 77 3,045 0.3152%
1917 79 3,116 0.3115%
1918 72 3,659 0.3409%
1919 72 3,630 0.3467%
1920 64 4,121 0.3706%
1921 68 4,100 0.3581%
1922 74 3,728 0.3346%
1923 69 3,831 0.342%
1924 71 3,844 0.331%
1925 76 3,570 0.3159%
1926 80 3,423 0.3112%
1927 78 3,488 0.3151%
1928 78 3,298 0.3082%
1929 80 3,093 0.2986%
1930 90 2,866 0.2744%
1931 82 2,888 0.2926%
1932 90 2,660 0.2692%
1933 99 2,368 0.2542%
1934 98 2,409 0.2492%
1935 112 2,113 0.2174%
1936 115 2,006 0.2082%
1937 128 1,889 0.1917%
1938 132 1,794 0.1752%
1939 127 1,864 0.1832%
1940 115 2,249 0.2116%
1941 114 2,263 0.2011%
1942 124 2,199 0.1741%
1943 122 2,309 0.1769%
1944 129 2,004 0.1617%
1945 118 2,156 0.1768%
1946 120 2,416 0.1637%
1947 127 2,474 0.1482%
1948 126 2,408 0.1508%
1949 136 2,319 0.1442%
1950 138 2,255 0.1401%
1951 138 2,390 0.141%
1952 142 2,496 0.143%
1953 149 2,334 0.1319%
1954 155 2,265 0.1239%
1955 155 2,345 0.1275%
1956 147 2,549 0.135%
1957 153 2,416 0.1256%
1958 172 2,185 0.1156%
1959 177 2,156 0.1135%
1960 188 1,999 0.1055%
1961 195 1,851 0.098%
1962 208 1,710 0.0931%
1963 205 1,711 0.0953%
1964 224 1,484 0.0843%
1965 244 1,220 0.0746%
1966 258 1,032 0.0661%
1967 258 1,015 0.0669%
1968 285 891 0.0593%
1969 312 786 0.051%
1970 339 738 0.0464%
1971 359 633 0.0421%
1972 379 526 0.0386%
1973 381 498 0.0384%
1974 395 478 0.0368%
1975 449 388 0.0302%
1976 487 330 0.0256%
1977 520 308 0.0228%
1978 524 307 0.0228%
1979 455 404 0.0287%
1980 500 365 0.025%
1981 531 313 0.0213%
1982 505 353 0.0236%
1983 488 359 0.0243%
1984 488 370 0.0249%
1985 502 360 0.0237%
1986 495 390 0.0258%
1987 508 372 0.0244%
1988 511 395 0.0253%
1989 506 424 0.0263%
1990 454 497 0.03%
1991 316 822 0.0504%
1992 309 871 0.0546%
1993 295 902 0.0579%
1994 301 877 0.0571%
1995 319 822 0.0545%
1996 319 849 0.0567%
1997 320 870 0.0588%
1998 328 868 0.058%
1999 283 1,088 0.0727%
2000 272 1,152 0.0754%
2001 311 988 0.0656%
2002 252 1,239 0.0827%
2003 226 1,426 0.0937%
2004 231 1,397 0.0917%
2005 223 1,533 0.1003%
2006 224 1,506 0.0962%
2007 209 1,612 0.1022%
2008 205 1,616 0.1046%
2009 164 1,940 0.1298%
2010 159 1,927 0.1337%
2011 152 2,017 0.1416%
2012 141 2,248 0.1578%
2013 118 2,637 0.1852%
2014 96 3,061 0.2101%
2015 95 3,196 0.2197%
2016 95 3,129 0.217%
2017 96 3,006 0.2154%
2018 95 2,949 0.2146%
2019 95 2,911 0.215%
2020 103 2,571 0.202%
2021 95 2,525 0.2066%
2022 104 2,652 0.201%

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Vivian

If you like Vivian, you’ll love these other names like Vivian.

What names are diminutives of Vivian?

A diminutive is a name that’s like Vivian sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Vivian, but shorter.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Veta

God's promise; God is my oath; knowledge, wisdom

Indian (Sanskrit)

Vi

Purple; lively

Latin

Viv

Lively

Latin

Viva

Alive

Latin

Vivi

Lively

Latin

Vivvie

A diminutive form of Vivian.

What names are variants of Vivian?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Vivian.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Bibi

Lady of the house

Persian

Bibiana

Lively

Latin, Spanish

Bibiane

Lively

Spanish

Bibianna

Lively

Spanish

Bibianne

Lively

Latin

Bibyana

Lively

Latin

Vibiana

Lively

Latin

Vivia

Lively

Latin

Viviana

Alive

Italian

Viviane

Lively

Latin

Vivianna

Lively

Latin

Vivianne

Lively

Latin

Vivien

Lively

Latin

Vivienne

Alive

French

Vivyan

Lively

Latin

Vivyana

Lively

Latin

Vivyanne

Lively

Latin

Vyvyan

Lively

Latin

Vyvyana

Lively

Latin

Vyvyanne

Lively

Latin

What names sound like Vivian?

If you like how Vivian sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Vivian.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Favianna

Latin

Fifine

Jehovah increases

Hebrew

Valentina

Strong and healthy

Latin

Valeria

Strength and vigor

Italian

Valerie

Strength and vigor

French

Vera

Truth and faith

Latin

Vevina

Sweet lady

Irish

Victoria

Victory

Latin

What names are similar to Vivian?

Find a name that’s like Vivian, but just a little bit different.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Caroline

Free woman

French

Cora

Maiden

Greek

Edith

Strife for wealth

English

Elspeth

An exotic variant of Elizabeth.

Scottish

Evelyn

Desired one

English

Julia

Youthful and downy

Latin

Lydia

From Lydia

Greek

Maeve

Intoxicating

Irish

Meredith

Great, noted ruler

Welsh

Violet

Violet flower

English

Lists With Vivian

Find inspiration in these baby girl name lists featuring the name Vivian.

Siblings of Vivian

Mamas with kids named Vivian also have kids with these names.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Thea

Gift of God

Greek

Watson

Son of Walter

English

20 Comments

  1. My name is Vivian and I love this name. Forever grateful

    Reply

  2. Vivian Rains was named after my husband’s grandmother and my maiden name. It was a perfect classic name with cute modern nicknames like Viv and Vivi ?

    Reply

  3. Our family likes classic names, Vivian called to us while I was pregnant?

    Reply

  4. my name is Vivian and absolutely love the the name!

    Reply

  5. My husband and I agreed on such a pretty name!

    Reply

  6. We thought Vivian was an elegant, classy, beautiful name. We also loved the nickname Vivi. Our last name starts with a V and we really love the way the double V name sounds.

    Reply

  7. My name is Vivian, am very grateful to my mum for giving me the name Vivian

    Reply

    • Same!

      Reply

  8. Classic, strong name

    Reply

  9. My mother named me after her in a way. Her name is Viviana and mine is Vivian. I have always loved my name and I am very glad to have this name.

    Reply

  10. We had chosen 3 names as potentials for baby girl, but wanted to see what she looked like before we named her. The whole pregnancy we kept saying Vivian just sounded like a strong name. During birth, specifically pushing her heart rate stayed so strong and she would quickly recover. Because of her strength during birth we decided the name Vivian for best.

    Reply

  11. Our neighbor just named her son Vivian. I see that once upon a time that was a boys name but I doubt there are many boys under the age of about 110 with that name today. I hope she used it because she liked Something unusual and not because she already as four boy and was getting tired of farts, burps and belches.

    Reply

    • I worked with a guy named Viv, in his 40s. (Full name Vivian) He was from England and said it was still used a lot overseas. He was straight, married and had kids.

      Reply

  12. Vivian was my Grandmother’s name. I have always loved that name and knew if I had a girl I would name her Vivian.

    Reply

  13. We liked that Vivian was a vintage baby name with a great meaning. I liked that it had my mother and grandfather’s names spelled within it too. Also, we loved the nicknames Viv and Vivi.

    Reply

    • I love the Name Vivian it meraba a lot to me so hamble people and respertable one ….

      Reply

  14. I just love older names ?

    Reply

  15. She’s actually named after a little purple ghost character from Paper Mario, one of our favourite video games while we were dating. Haha.
    We like it because it’s classy and old and we want to bring it back. Vivian is French and means life. Viv la France!

    Reply

  16. Iam very much in love with Vivians name. Her name is from one of my all time favorite movies pretty woman. Vivian is also an old fashion name and blends well with my other to children.

    Reply

  17. We thought it was a beautiful vintage name that still sounds fairly modern!!! It’s easy to spell and pronounce as well!!!

    Reply

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