Virgil

Latin

"staff bearer"

Virgil Origin and Meaning

The name Virgil is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "staff bearer".

The name of the greatest Roman poet and an early Irish saint who believed the earth was round, Virgil is heard most notably today as the name of designer Virgil Abloh of Off-White.

The first century poet known as Virgil, author of the influential epic Aeneid, was christened Publius Vergilius Maro. Centuries later, Virgil Tibbs was the noble police detective portrayed by Sidney Poitier in two films: In the Heat of the Night and They Call Me Mr. Tibbs. Currently, Virgil Minelli is a character on The Mentalist.

Virgil was the name of one of Wyatt Earp's brothers, a Tombstone, Arizona marshall. Virgil Thomson was a noted composer and musicologist, cartoonist Virgil Franklin Partch signed his work VIP, and astronaut Gus Grissom was born Virgil.

Virgil's greatest popularity took place in the early decades of the twentieth century: It was a Top 100 name for five nonconsecutive years.

Virgil Rank in US Top 1000

# 867 in the US

Virgil Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 614 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Virgil

• 614 Nameberry 2025
• 473 Unique 2023

20 Names Similar to Virgil

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Virgil.

• Pascal
• Cecil
• Ulysses
• Wolfgang
• Sylvester
• Mortimer
• Enoch
• Augustine
• Clement
• Caspar
• Oswald
• Claude
• Lionel
• Klaus
• Horatio
• Cornelius
• Florence
• Luther
• Barnabas
• Jethro

Famous People Named Virgil

• Virgil (born Publius Vergilius Maro) Roman epic poet
• Virgil Walter Earp U.S. Marshal; brother of Wyatt and Morgan Earp
• Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom American astronaut
• Virgil Hamlin Goode U.S. Congressman from Virginia
• Virgil Charles Frye American actor; father of actress Soleil Moon Frye
• Virgil Leo Green American football player
• Virgil Thomson American composer
• Virgil Oliver "Fire" Trucks American baseball player
• Virgil Keel Fox American organist
• Virgil Walter Ross American animator and cartoonist
• Virgil Riley Runnels Jr. birth name of Dusty Rhodes, American pro wrestler
• Virgil ring name of Michael Jones), American pro wrestler
• Virgil van Dijk Dutch professional footballer

The name Virgil in Pop Culture

• Virgil Tibbs main character in film and TV series "In the Heat of the Night"
• Virgil character on TV's "Homeland"
• Virgil Fox character in TV movie "Minutemen"
• Virgil Caine main character in the song ''The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down'' by The Band
• Virgil Grissom Tracy character in animated series "Thunderbirds"
• Virgil AI character on TV's "Crash Zone"
• Virgil Malloy character in film “Ocean’s Eleven”
• Virgil orangutan character in film "Battle for the Planet of the Apes"
• Virgil character on TV's "Xena: Warrior Princess"
• Virgil Sollozzo character in book/film "The Godfather"
• Virgil character in film "True Romance"
• Virgil Hawkins aka Static Shock character in DC Comics
• Virgil character in Thomas Sanders' YouTube series "Sanders Sides", representing his anxiety

International Variations of the name Virgil

• Virgilio Spanish
• Virgile French