Virginia is a Germanic and Romance

feminine Femininity (also called womanliness) is a set of attributes, behaviors, and roles generally associated with women and girls. Femininity can be understood as socially constructed, and there is also some evidence that some behaviors considered fe ...

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a fa ...

derived from the

Ancient Roman In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

family name '' Verginius'' or ''Virginius'', a name widely assumed to derive from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word virgo, meaning ''" maiden"'' or "''

virgin Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

''." According to legend,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

was a Roman girl who was killed by her father in order to save her from seduction by the corrupt government official

Appius Claudius Crassus Appius Claudius Crassus Inregillensis (or Crassinus Regillensis) Sabinus ( 471–451 BC) was a Roman senator during the early Republic, most notable as the leading member of the ten-man board (the Decemvirate) which drew up the Twelve Tables of ...

.Behind the Name
/ref> The name was the 34th most common name for American women and girls, according to the census of 1990. It was the 545th most popular name given to baby girls born in the United States in 2007. Virginia Dare was the first child born to

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

parents in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter that prompted the famous " Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" editorial in the September 21, 1897 edition of the '' New York Sun''. The most famous Virginia is probably the English modernist author

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

Variants

*Virgy (

) *Virgee (English) *Virgie (English) *Virginia ( Italian/ Spanish) *Virgínia ( Portuguese) *Virginie (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

) *Virginija (

Lithuanian Lithuanian may refer to: * Lithuanians * Lithuanian language * The country of Lithuania * Grand Duchy of Lithuania * Culture of Lithuania * Lithuanian cuisine * Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...

) *Wilikinia ( Hawaiian) *Vegenia (Hawaiian) *Βιργινία (Virginia or Viryinia) ( Greek) *Virdžinija (Вирџинија) (

Serbian language Serbian (, ) is the standardized variety of the Serbo-Croatian language mainly used by Serbs. It is the official and national language of Serbia, one of the three official languages of Bosnia and Herzegovina and co-official in Montenegro and Kos ...

)

Reduced forms/nicknames

*Ginnie (English) (see Ginny) *Ginna (English) *

Ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...

(English) *Ivy (English) *Nia (English) *Nini (English) * Ginny (English) *

Jenna Jenna is a female given name. In the English-speaking world it is a variation of Jenny, which is itself a diminutive of Jane, Janet, Jennifer and is often used as a name in its own right.Katie Martin-Doyle, ''The Treasury of Baby Names'', Worth Pre ...

(English) * Jinny (English) *Ginia (Spanish) * Gina (Spanish/Portuguese) *Ginata (Spanish) * Gigi (French) *Ginni (Indian) *Vera (English) *Vivi (French) *Vi (French) *Virgi (Italian) *Vina (English) *Nina (English) *Gia (English) *Dingle (English)

Notable people

Virginia Centurione Bracelli Virginia Centurione Bracelli ( lij, Virginnia Çentrioña, 2 April 1587 – 15 December 1651) was an Italian people, Italian noblewoman from Genoa. Her father was the Doge of Genoa, and she had a short marriage due to being widowed in 1607. She ...

, Roman Catholic saint *

Virginia Apgar Virginia Apgar (June 7, 1909August 7, 1974) was an American physician, obstetrical anesthesiologist and medical researcher, best known as the inventor of the Apgar Score, a way to quickly assess the health of a newborn child immediately after bir ...

, American obstetrical anesthesiologist, and inventor of the Apgar score * Virginia Bourbon del Monte, an Italian aristocrat *

Virginia Coffey Virginia Coffey (1904–2003), was an American social reformer and civil rights activist who worked for improved race relations in and around Cincinnati, Ohio. She advised and directed several organisations during her career, including a variety of ...

, American civil rights activist *

Virginia Frazer Boyle Virginia Frazer Boyle (February 14, 1863 – December 13, 1938) was an American author of prose and poetry. Interested in the Confederacy, she wrote several novels and more than 100 poems that took up various aspects and presented inspirational an ...

, American poet and writer * Virginia Crosbie, British politician * Virginia Mary Crawford (1862–1948), British Catholic suffragist, feminist, journalist, and author *

Virginia Clinton Virginia Dell Blythe Clinton Dwire Kelley (née Cassidy; June 6, 1923 – January 6, 1994) was an American nurse anesthetist and the mother of Bill Clinton, the 42nd president of the United States. Early life Virginia Dell Cassidy was born ...

, mother of former United States President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

* Virginia Dare, the first child born to English parents in the Americas *

Virginia Eriksdotter Virginia Eriksdotter (1 January 1559 – 1633) was a Swedish noble. She was the recognized illegitimate daughter of King Erik XIV of Sweden and his official royal mistress Agda Persdotter. Life Virginia was born at Kalmar Castle during her father ...

, Swedish noble *

Princess Virginia von Fürstenberg Princess is a regal rank and the feminine equivalent of prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or for the daughter of a king or prince. Princess as a subst ...

, Italian fashion designer and artist *

Virginia Hall Virginia Hall Goillot DSC, Croix de Guerre, (April 6, 1906 – July 8, 1982), code named Marie and Diane, was an American who worked with the United Kingdom's clandestine Special Operations Executive (SOE) and the American Office of St ...

, American World War II spy *

Virginia Hamilton Virginia Esther Hamilton (March 12, 1936 – February 19, 2002) was an American children's books author. She wrote 41 books, including '' M. C. Higgins, the Great'' (1974), for which she won the U.S. National Book Award in category Children's Bo ...

(1936–2002), American author * Virginia Hampson (born 2002), English singer *

Virginia Kravarioti Virginia Kravarioti ( el, Βιργινία Κραβαριώτη; born April 27, 1984, in Athens) is a Greek sailor. She won the bronze medal in the women's Yngling class with Sofia Bekatorou and Sofia Papadopoulou at the 2008 Summer Olympics ...

, Greek sailor * Virginia Lesser, American statistician * Virginia Madsen, American actress * Virginia Mauret (died 1983), American musician and dancer *

Virginia McKenna Dame Virginia Anne McKenna, (born 7 June 1931) is a British stage and screen actress, author and wildlife campaigner. She is best known for the films ''A Town Like Alice'' (1956), '' Carve Her Name with Pride'' (1958), ''Born Free'' (1966), and ...

, British actress and author * Virginia Miller, several people * Virginia Nyambura (born 1993), Kenyan steeplechase runner * Virginia Ridley, a woman who was imprisoned by her husband *

Virginia Satir Virginia Satir (26 June 1916 – 10 September 1988) was an American author and psychotherapist,http://www.psychologistanywhereanytime.com/famous_psychologist_and_psychologists/psychologist_famous_virginia_satir.htm recognized for her approach to ...

, American author and psychotherapist *

Virginia Shehee Virginia Ruth Kilpatrick Shehee (1923-2015) was an American businesswoman and politician from Louisiana. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first woman elected to the Louisiana State Senate. Personal life Shehee was born on July 12, ...

, Louisiana businesswoman and former state senator *

Virginia Thomas Virginia "Ginni" Thomas ( Lamp; born February 23, 1957) is an American attorney and conservative activist. In 1987, she married Clarence Thomas, who became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States in 1991. Her conservative ...

, January 6 insurrectionist, wife of

Clarence Thomas Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. He was nominated by President George H. W. Bush to succeed Thurgood Marshall and has served since 199 ...

* Virginia Thrasher, American sports shooter and Olympic gold medalist * Virginia Tonelli (1903–1944), Italian partisan *

Virginia Wade Sarah Virginia Wade (born 10 July 1945) is a British former professional tennis player. She won three Major tennis singles championships and four major doubles championships, and is the only British woman in history to have won titles at all f ...

(born 1945), British tennis player and three-time Grand Slam winner *

Virginia Walker Virginia May Walker Hawks (July 31, 1908 – December 23, 1946) was an American model and film actress. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she studied Japanese art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and pursued a modeling career in nationa ...

(1916–1946), American film actress *

(1882–1941), English novelist and essayist * Virginia Euwer Wolff, American author *

Virginia Zakian Virginia Zakian is the Harry C. Wiess Professor in the Life Sciences in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University. She is the director of the Zakian Lab, which has done important research in topics such as telomere-binding protei ...

, American scientist and professor at Princeton University *

Virginia Zeani Virginia Zeani (born Virginia Zehan; 21 October 1925), Commendatore OMRI is a Romanian-born opera singer who sang leading soprano roles in the opera houses of Europe and North America. As a singer, she was known for her dramatic intensity and ...

, Romanian-born opera singer * Virginia “Ginger” Rogers (1911–1995), American actress

Fictional people

* Virginia "Pepper" Potts, fictional character in Marvel Comics

Variants

Reduced forms/nicknames

Notable people

Fictional people

Notes

See also