Vivian

Locally spelled Vivien in HU Hungary.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.

Attested across 7 languages in the etymology graph.

Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Vivian, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.

• Sylvia
• Genevieve
• Natalie
• Lillian
• Naomi

From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.

Vivian is also recorded as 7 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, Argentina, Philippines

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Vívian, Vivían, Vivián, Viviãn, Vïvïan

• a separate name4 spellings in the group

  Also written Vivián, Vivían, Vívian

• French given name4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Belgium, Philippines

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Vívian, Vivían

• Indonesian given name4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, Malaysia, United States, Philippines

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Vivian, Vívian

• Portuguese given name82 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, Spain, Poland

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish, Polish

  Also written Viviane, Vivien, Вивиан, Вівіан, Vivijan

• Italian given name3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Italy, San Marino, United Kingdom

  Also written Vivían, Vívian

• Greek given name5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Βίβιαν, Βιβιαν, Vivían, Vívian

68 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Vivian is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, from the personal name Vivianus (Latin vivianus ‘lively’); first attested Johannes filius Viuian 1175 P (K)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In English, from Latin Vivianus, from vivus ‘living’; first attested Roger Fidian 1279 RH (C)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In English, Gracious in life or lively; full of life, vital

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• , occasionally 2 From an Old French form of the Latin name Vividnus (probably a derivative of vivus ‘alive’). The name was borne by a 5th-century bishop of Saintes in western France, remembered for protecting his people during the invasion of the Visigoths. Variants: Vivien, Vyvyan. Short forms: Viv; Vi, Vivi (9).

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In Italian, redução dialetal setentrional de Viviano.

  as a name·Dicionário dos sobrenomes italianos

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• Vivian Maierb. 1926USFrench-American photographer (1926–2009)
• Vivian Kubrickb. 1960USAmerican film composer and director (born 1960)
• Amy Coney Barrettb. 1972USnot in their usual nameAmerican lawyer and jurist (born 1972)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

A formal English salutation is built on the surname, so it needs a full name — on its own, a first name only supports the informal form.

116 registers and reference works attest this spelling, across 58 countries.

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

Is Vivian a male or female name?

Vivian is used for both men and women, depending on the country. National registers that list names by sex disagree: United States (Census Bureau, 2020): listed as female; Brazil (IBGE, 2022): listed as female; Norway (SSB): listed as female; France (INSEE, 2015): listed as male. We don't publish a percentage split.

What are other forms of the name Vivian?

In the etymology graph, Vivien, Vivi and Bevin are forms of the same name in other languages.

What does the name Vivian mean, and where does it come from?

from the medieval personal name Vivian, from Latin Vivianus, based on vivus ‘alive’ Recorded by Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history].

How do you pronounce Vivian?

It depends on the language: in English /ˈvɪvi.ən/ (Wiktionary); in Spanish /bibian/; in Portuguese /viviɐ̃/; in Swahili /vivian/. Transcriptions are machine-generated except where a dictionary is named.

Which countries have the most people named Vivian?

Mondonomo estimates about 235 thousand people named Vivian in Nigeria, more than in any other country we hold, where it is most often spelled vivian. After it come United States, Philippines, Brazil and Hungary; the country table on this page ranks them.

How common is the name Vivian?

In the United States, the national register counted 129,224 people named Vivian in 2020, about 1 in 2.6 thousand residents.

How common is Vivian compared with other names?

In Nigeria, Vivian is the 312th most common given name of 138,191 given names recorded there.