Vivian
Vivian was given to 3,362 girls in 2025, #72 among girls’ names; 230,755 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 126,000 Americans named Vivian and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (55% of everyone recorded); the median is 31 years old and half are between 11 and 69.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Vivian by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Vivian mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Vivian is “a female given name from Latin.” Its etymology gives the sense “alive” (vīvus).
Also “a male given name from Latin.”
Early saints' name from Latin Vīviānus, and of its feminine form Vīviāna, probably from vīvus (“alive”).
/ˈvɪvi.ən/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Vivian?
#72 among girls’ names, 2025
Vivian rose from #95 in 2015 to #72 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 1.8 to 2.1 per 1,000.
4,200 babies in 1920, the peak
Vivian peaked in 1920, when 4,200 babies were given it (4,128 girls, #64 among girls’ names). The 3,367 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 80% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 3,362 | #72 | 2.1 |
| 2024 | 3,096 | #77 | 1.9 |
| 2023 | 2,808 | #87 | 1.7 |
| 2022 | 2,674 | #104 | 1.6 |
| 2021 | 2,695 | #101 | 1.6 |
| 2020 | 2,705 | #101 | 1.7 |
| 2019 | 2,934 | #96 | 1.7 |
| 2018 | 2,976 | #96 | 1.7 |
| 2017 | 3,032 | #97 | 1.8 |
| 2016 | 3,142 | #95 | 1.8 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 3,204 | #95 | 1.8 |
| 2014 | 3,063 | #97 | 1.7 |
| 2013 | 2,651 | #120 | 1.5 |
| 2012 | 2,264 | #141 | 1.3 |
| 2011 | 2,022 | #153 | 1.1 |
| 2010 | 1,943 | #158 | 1.1 |
| 2009 | 1,964 | #164 | 1.1 |
| 2008 | 1,639 | #206 | 0.87 |
| 2007 | 1,640 | #210 | 0.85 |
| 2006 | 1,536 | #224 | 0.81 |
| 2005 | 1,560 | #223 | 0.84 |
| 2004 | 1,425 | #231 | 0.78 |
| 2003 | 1,453 | #224 | 0.80 |
| 2002 | 1,275 | #249 | 0.71 |
| 2001 | 1,020 | #312 | 0.57 |
| 2000 | 1,178 | #272 | 0.65 |
| 1999 | 1,114 | #281 | 0.63 |
| 1998 | 912 | #325 | 0.52 |
| 1997 | 908 | #320 | 0.52 |
| 1996 | 897 | #314 | 0.51 |
| 1995 | 867 | #317 | 0.49 |
| 1994 | 921 | #299 | 0.52 |
| 1993 | 931 | #295 | 0.51 |
| 1992 | 909 | #307 | 0.49 |
| 1991 | 852 | #316 | 0.45 |
| 1990 | 553 | #446 | 0.29 |
| 1989 | 465 | #507 | 0.25 |
| 1988 | 428 | #517 | 0.24 |
| 1987 | 429 | #500 | 0.25 |
| 1986 | 443 | #485 | 0.26 |
| 1985 | 408 | #498 | 0.24 |
| 1984 | 412 | #489 | 0.24 |
| 1983 | 411 | #481 | 0.25 |
| 1982 | 393 | #512 | 0.23 |
| 1981 | 351 | #536 | 0.21 |
| 1980 | 409 | #498 | 0.25 |
| 1979 | 456 | #449 | 0.28 |
| 1978 | 348 | #529 | 0.23 |
| 1977 | 361 | #518 | 0.24 |
| 1976 | 377 | #486 | 0.26 |
| 1975 | 423 | #453 | 0.29 |
| 1974 | 505 | #401 | 0.34 |
| 1973 | 526 | #388 | 0.36 |
| 1972 | 569 | #378 | 0.37 |
| 1971 | 660 | #362 | 0.40 |
| 1970 | 776 | #339 | 0.44 |
| 1969 | 810 | #319 | 0.48 |
| 1968 | 914 | #288 | 0.56 |
| 1967 | 1,056 | #260 | 0.64 |
| 1966 | 1,058 | #260 | 0.63 |
| 1965 | 1,253 | #245 | 0.71 |
| 1964 | 1,511 | #224 | 0.80 |
| 1963 | 1,745 | #204 | 0.91 |
| 1962 | 1,747 | #206 | 0.89 |
| 1961 | 1,894 | #194 | 0.94 |
| 1960 | 2,022 | #188 | 1.0 |
| 1959 | 2,184 | #177 | 1.1 |
| 1958 | 2,206 | #172 | 1.1 |
| 1957 | 2,432 | #153 | 1.2 |
| 1956 | 2,560 | #148 | 1.3 |
| 1955 | 2,357 | #154 | 1.2 |
| 1954 | 2,275 | #156 | 1.2 |
| 1953 | 2,358 | #149 | 1.3 |
| 1952 | 2,508 | #142 | 1.4 |
| 1951 | 2,405 | #138 | 1.3 |
| 1950 | 2,269 | #138 | 1.3 |
| 1949 | 2,327 | #136 | 1.4 |
| 1948 | 2,424 | #126 | 1.4 |
| 1947 | 2,483 | #128 | 1.4 |
| 1946 | 2,424 | #120 | 1.5 |
| 1945 | 2,168 | #118 | 1.7 |
| 1944 | 2,022 | #129 | 1.5 |
| 1943 | 2,321 | #122 | 1.7 |
| 1942 | 2,203 | #125 | 1.6 |
| 1941 | 2,280 | #113 | 1.9 |
| 1940 | 2,261 | #115 | 2.0 |
| 1939 | 1,868 | #128 | 1.7 |
| 1938 | 1,797 | #135 | 1.6 |
| 1937 | 1,910 | #127 | 1.8 |
| 1936 | 2,015 | #115 | 1.9 |
| 1935 | 2,124 | #112 | 2.0 |
| 1934 | 2,413 | #98 | 2.3 |
| 1933 | 2,378 | #98 | 2.4 |
| 1932 | 2,662 | #90 | 2.5 |
| 1931 | 2,893 | #82 | 2.7 |
| 1930 | 2,872 | #91 | 2.6 |
| 1929 | 3,101 | #81 | 2.8 |
| 1928 | 3,310 | #78 | 2.9 |
| 1927 | 3,510 | #77 | 2.9 |
| 1926 | 3,430 | #80 | 2.9 |
| 1925 | 3,576 | #76 | 2.9 |
| 1924 | 3,850 | #71 | 3.1 |
| 1923 | 3,831 | #69 | 3.2 |
| 1922 | 3,733 | #74 | 3.1 |
| 1921 | 4,103 | #68 | 3.3 |
| 1920 | 4,128 | #64 | 3.4 |
| 1919 | 3,640 | #72 | 3.2 |
| 1918 | 3,663 | #72 | 3.2 |
| 1917 | 3,119 | #79 | 2.9 |
| 1916 | 3,049 | #77 | 2.9 |
| 1915 | 2,857 | #78 | 2.9 |
| 1914 | 2,080 | #81 | 2.7 |
| 1913 | 1,727 | #83 | 2.8 |
| 1912 | 1,487 | #84 | 2.7 |
| 1911 | 1,211 | #80 | 2.9 |
| 1910 | 801 | #107 | 2.0 |
| 1909 | 652 | #111 | 1.9 |
| 1908 | 561 | #121 | 1.7 |
| 1907 | 572 | #116 | 1.8 |
| 1906 | 489 | #129 | 1.7 |
| 1905 | 492 | #128 | 1.7 |
| 1904 | 470 | #126 | 1.7 |
| 1903 | 432 | #128 | 1.6 |
| 1902 | 425 | #132 | 1.6 |
| 1901 | 342 | #146 | 1.4 |
| 1900 | 383 | #152 | 1.3 |
| 1899 | 250 | #172 | 1.1 |
| 1898 | 308 | #162 | 1.2 |
| 1897 | 241 | #177 | 1.0 |
| 1896 | 224 | #183 | 0.94 |
| 1895 | 216 | #183 | 0.92 |
| 1894 | 212 | #184 | 1.0 |
| 1893 | 185 | #191 | 0.87 |
| 1892 | 152 | #205 | 0.72 |
| 1891 | 108 | #234 | 0.58 |
| 1890 | 103 | #241 | 0.54 |
| 1889 | 83 | #260 | 0.47 |
| 1888 | 77 | #266 | 0.43 |
| 1887 | 66 | #261 | 0.45 |
| 1886 | 49 | #299 | 0.34 |
| 1885 | 51 | #279 | 0.38 |
| 1884 | 33 | #348 | 0.26 |
| 1883 | 33 | #313 | 0.29 |
| 1882 | 27 | #347 | 0.25 |
| 1881 | 24 | #337 | 0.26 |
| 1880 | 22 | #351 | 0.24 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Vivian a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 230,755 Americans recorded as Vivian, 99% are girls and 1% boys. In 2025 it went to 3,362 girls and 5 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Vivian: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Vivian, and how old are they?
126,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 55% of the 230,755 Americans ever recorded as Vivian. The median Vivian alive today is 31 years old; half are between 11 and 69.
The 2020 Census counted 129,224 people named Vivian (128,213 women and girls, 1,011 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 122,472 born in the U.S. The Census count is 6% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 11,800 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 32,600 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 9,730 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 9,530 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 23,600 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 38,100 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Vivian born?
The states with the most babies named Vivian are California, New York and Texas, with 24% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 19,867 | #184 | 1.1× |
| New York | 17,174 | #96 | 0.9× |
| Texas | 15,425 | #126 | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 11,325 | #51 | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 9,973 | #60 | 0.7× |
| Ohio | 9,232 | #32 | 0.9× |
| North Carolina | 7,815 | #78 | 1.1× |
| Michigan | 7,617 | #29 | 0.9× |
| Georgia | 7,465 | #120 | 1.1× |
| Florida | 6,528 | #139 | 1.0× |
Where Vivian is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Vivian is most over-represented in District of Columbia: since 1910 it was given 1.2 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Vivian with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 5 names spelled alike, given to 239,066 babies since 1880, Vivian is the most given (97% of them). In 2025 it was given to 3,367 of their 3,516 babies (96%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Vivian
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Vivian and names like it
- Compare Vivian and VivienBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sVivian peaked in 1920.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Vivian since 1910.
- Latin namesWiktionary’s origin for Vivian: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1920The year the most babies were named Vivian.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Vivian alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with VMost given first.