Vivian

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Vivien in HU Hungary, DE Germany, AT Austria and 1 more, Vivienne in ZA South Africa, FI Finland, NZ New Zealand and ויויאן in IL Israel, FR France.

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

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 7 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

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

• Portuguese given name1.1M records spelled Vivian9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, Argentina, Philippines

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish

  Also written Vívian, Vivían, Vivián, Viviãn, Vïvïan

• a separate given name54K records spelled Vivian4 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Vivían, Vivián, Vívian

• French given name33K records spelled Vivian4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Philippines, Spain

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Vívian, Vivían

• Indonesian given name15K records spelled Vivian4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, United States, Malaysia, Philippines

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Vivian, Vívian

• Portuguese given name11K records spelled Vivian82 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, Poland, Czechia

  Languages: Portuguese, Polish, Spanish

  Also written Viviane, Vivien, Вивиан, Вівіан

• Italian given name3.4K records spelled Vivian3 spellings in the group

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

  Also written Vivían, Vívian

• Greek given name2.9K records spelled Vivian5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States, Cyprus, Canada

  Also written Βιβιαν, Βίβιαν, Vívian, Vivían

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.

Other recorded senses●

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.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Vivian Woodwardb. 1879GBEnglish footballer (1879-1954)
• Vivian Maierb. 1926USFrench-American photographer (1926–2009)
• Michael Penningtonb. 1943GBnot in their usual nameEnglish actor (1943–2026)
• Vivian Kubrickb. 1960USAmerican film composer and director (born 1960)
• Vivian Campbellb. 1962GBNorthern Irish guitarist
• Vivian Wub. 1966CNChinese actress
• Cliff Curtisb. 1968NZnot in their usual nameNew Zealand actor
• Amy Coney Barrettb. 1972USnot in their usual nameAmerican lawyer and jurist (born 1972)
• Vivian Cheruiyotb. 1983KEKenyan long-distance runner
• Vivian Jenna Wilsonb. 2004USAmerican model

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).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,383 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Vivian?

We estimate roughly 235 thousand people bear Vivian (counting its spellings and scripts) across 11 countries in our records.

In which country does Vivian have the most bearers?

We estimate about 128 thousand people bear Vivian in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled vivian.

Where is Vivian most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Vivian is densest in Hungary — about 1 in 323 people — even though United States holds more of our records for it.

How common is Vivian compared with other names?

In the United States, Vivian is the 388th most common given name of 3,122,706 given names recorded there.

Is Vivian a male or female name?

Vivian is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Vivian mean?

Recorded meaning: from the medieval personal name Vivian, from Latin Vivianus, based on vivus ‘alive’