girl's name
Virginia
ver-JIN-yuh
- Origin Latin
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 8
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 658,939
the United States
#525
2025 births
Virginia is a girl's name from a Roman family name, and the American state was named before the name became common in America — both honoring Elizabeth I, the Virgin Queen. Our data marks it stable rather than falling.
- Virginia is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in 1922, when 19,181 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 5,796 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Virginia over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 2,948 |
| 1890s | 5,875 |
| 1900s | 14,567 |
| 1910s | 94,522 |
| 1920s | 170,037 |
| 1930s | 103,583 |
| 1940s | 99,320 |
| 1950s | 69,956 |
| 1960s | 35,467 |
| 1970s | 18,132 |
| 1980s | 15,078 |
| 1990s | 9,879 |
| 2000s | 6,704 |
| 2010s | 5,546 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 3,354 |
What Virginia means
Virginia comes from the Roman family name Verginius, whose own meaning is not known. The maiden or virgin reading comes from a later respelling that pulled it toward the Latin virgo.
Where Virginia comes from
Virginia is the feminine of the Roman gens name Verginius, and like most Roman family names its origin is lost. The spelling drifted from Verginia to Virginia under the influence of virgo, a maiden, and the meaning everyone now gives comes from that drift rather than from the source. The Roman story attached to it is grim: Livy tells of Verginia, killed by her own father to spare her from a magistrate who had claimed her as a slave, a killing that helped bring down the decemvirate. Walter Raleigh named the American colony Virginia in 1584 for Elizabeth I, and Virginia Dare, born there in 1587, was the first English child born in the Americas.
Virginia in use
Virginia peaked in the United States in 1922, when 19,181 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It now ranks 525th in the United States on 572 births, 2885th in England and Wales and 6129th in France, across 658,939 lifetime births in four of the seven markets we track. Its stability at a century past its peak places it with Helen and Barbara rather than with the still-declining majority of its generation.
How popular is Virginia?
In 2025, Virginia was given to 572 babies in the United States, ranking #525 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Virginia is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Virginia
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Virginia also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Virginia over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
3 nicknames for Virginia
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Virginia in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Virginia
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Virginia — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Virginia
What does the name Virginia mean?
The Roman family name it comes from has no known meaning. The maiden reading comes from a later spelling drift toward the Latin virgo.
Is the name from the state or the state from the name?
Both honor Elizabeth I. Raleigh named the colony in 1584, and the name's American use largely follows the place.
Who was Virginia Dare?
Born in the Roanoke colony in 1587, the first English child born in the Americas.
How popular is Virginia?
525th in the United States, and our data marks it stable rather than falling.
Is Virginia a girl's or a boy's name?
Virginia is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Virginia?
Virginia has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Virginia?
Virginia is usually shortened to Ginny, Ginger and Ginnie.
Is Virginia a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Virginia currently ranks #525 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.