Virginia

Latin

"virginal, pure"

Virginia Origin and Meaning

The name Virginia is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "virginal, pure".

Virginia is a lovely place name starting with the fashionable V and having deep historical roots, yet, unlike some other other girls' classics, has been sorely neglected in recent years.

The colony/state of Virginia was given its name by Sir Walter Raleigh in honor of Elizabeth I, known as the Virgin Queen, and the first child to be born of English parents in the New World was christened Virginia Dare.

Virginia was in the Top 10 for 25 years, from 1912 to 1937, hitting a high of Number 6 in 1921, when there were 19,000 newborn Virginias in their cradles.

She does have a couple of possible downsides—those teasable virgin associations, and the not-quite-ready-for-revival Ginny nickname. But we think they're outweighed by more positive factors, and Virginia is in line for a possible revival.

Virginia has such distinguished namesakes as writer Virginia Woolf, has been the subject of songs by groups ranging from The Rolling Stones to the Foo Fighters, and has appeared as a character in a number of books, movies, and TV shows—currently co-starring on Masters of Sex. Ginger Rogers was born Virginia.

Virginia Rank in US Top 1000

# 560 in the US

Virginia Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 626 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Virginia

• 560 US 2023
• 626 Nameberry 2025
• 464 Future 2028
• 415 Mexico 2021

20 Names Similar to Virginia

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

• Nancy
• Susannah
• Martha
• Helen
• Joan
• Susanna
• Judith
• Jean
• Gloria
• Wendy
• Georgina
• Ruth
• Sally
• Mary
• Anne
• Lois
• Dora
• Dorothy
• Marianne
• Louise

Famous People Named Virginia

• Virginia "Dawson" Biondi King Philip Middle School student
• Virginia Bourbon del Monte daughter of the Prince di San Faustino
• Saint Virginia Centurione Bracelli Italian noblewoman
• (Adeline) Virginia Woolf English novelist
• Virginia G. Madsen American actress
• (Eliza) Virginia Capers American actress
• Virginia Williams American actress
• Virginia Katherine McMath birth name of American actress Ginger Rogers
• Virginia Esther Hamilton American children's author
• Virginia Satir American author and psychotherapist
• Virginia Hensley birth name of American singer Patsy Cline
• Virginia Dare first child born in America to English parents
• Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe cousin and wife of writer Edgar Allen Poe
• Virginia Elisabetta Luisa Carlotta Antonietta Teresa Maria Oldoini Countess of Castiglione, Italian mistress of Napoleon III of France
• Virginia Zucchi Italian ballerina
• Virginia A. McKenna English actress
• (Sarah) Virginia Wade English tennis player
• Virginia Gamba aka Sister Maria Celeste daughter of astronomer Galileo
• Virginia O'Hanlon American girl who wrote to "The Baltimore Sun"
• Mary Virginia Johnson American sex researcher of Masters and Johnson
• Virginia Dell Clinton Kelley mother of U.S. President Bill Clinton
• Virginia Mann younger daughter of photographer Sally Mann
• Virginia "Ginny" Thrasher American sport shooter
• Virginia Zamperini sister of WWII POW Louis Zamperini
• Virginia Elizabeth Gardner American actress
• Virginia Bocelli (b. 2012) daughter of Italian classical tenor, recording artist, and singer,songwriter Andrea Bocelli
• George Virginia Morgan (b. 2018) daughter of actors Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Hilarie Burton
• Virginia McLaurin famous black American for living over 100 years old
• Virginia Willow (b. 2018) daughter of actress Haley Bennett and director Joe Wright

The name Virginia in Pop Culture

• Virginia Polytech University site of the deadliest school shooting in US history
• Virginia Mosby Ted's mom on TV's "How I Met Your Mother"
• Virginia "Pepper" Potts character in Marvel Universe
• Virginia Brush character in movie 'The Strawberry Blonde'
• Virginia Lewis main character in the miniseries 'The 10th Kingdom'
• Virginia Chance character on TV's 'Raising Hope'
• Virginia "Ginny" Johnson from Showtime's "Masters of Sex"
• Virginia Ito character in "The Glass Scientists"
• Virginia Doyle mother in the Gemma Doyle trilogy by Libba Bray
• 'Yes Virginia', animated TV special inspired by Virginia O'Hanlon
• Virginia from song "Only the Good Die Young" by Billy Joel
• 'Meet Virginia' song by Train
• 'Leave Virginia Alone' song by Rod Stewart, Tom Petty
• 'Virginia' song by Tori Amos
• "Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? " play by Edward Albee
• Virginia and West Virginia U.S. states
• "My name's Virginia Virgin for short but not for long." (from 'Something Happened' by Joseph Heller)
• Virginia Conly Elsie Dinsmore's niece in the Elsie Dinsmore series
• Virginia au Augustus "Mustang" a main character from Pierce Brown's Red Rising Trilogy
• Virginia Crowe from Andrew Lane's Young Sherlock Holmes series.
• Virginia one of the main four characters from Platoon of Power Squadron

International Variations of the name Virginia

• Gigi French
• Virginie French
• Vegenia Hawaiian
• Gina Spanish
• Wilikinia Hawaiian
• Ginata Spanish
• Ginia Spanish