Viana
A feminine name of Portuguese and Latin origin meaning "from the town".
Name Census estimates that about 765 living Americans carry the first name Viana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Viana today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Viana births was 2021 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Viana. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Viana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
765
~ 1 in 448,045 Americans
Peak year
2021
41 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,363
Tracked since 1916
Census
Viana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 866 people with the first name Viana, which placed it at #13,813 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#13,813
National first-name rank
People counted
866
866 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
47.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Viana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Viana is Hispanic at 47.8%. The next largest groups are White (24.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Viana described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Viana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino47.8% · 414
- White24.8% · 215
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.2% · 123
- Black or African American9.1% · 79
- Two or more races3.6% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 4
Popularity
Viana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Viana from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 277 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Viana remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Viana by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Viana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vianas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Viana, while Washington, New Jersey, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Viana
The name Viana has its origins in the Portuguese language, deriving from the Latin word "via," meaning "road" or "way." It is believed to have initially been used as a surname, particularly in the regions of northern Portugal and Galicia in Spain, where it referred to individuals who lived near or worked on roads or traveled extensively.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Viana can be found in the 12th century, when it appeared as a surname in the genealogical records of noble families from the region of Entre-Douro-e-Minho in northern Portugal. During this period, the name was closely associated with the town of Viana do Castelo, which was an important center for trade and commerce along the coastal routes.
In the 15th century, the name gained further prominence when it was borne by Viana de Almeida, a Portuguese noblewoman who served as the governess to the children of King John II of Portugal. Her influential role in the royal court and her association with the monarchy likely contributed to the name's prestige and wider usage.
Throughout history, several notable figures have carried the name Viana. One such individual was Viana de Lima e Silva (1668-1736), a Brazilian Jesuit priest and scholar who made significant contributions to the study of natural history and geography in colonial Brazil. Another was Viana de Sousa (1628-1691), a Portuguese military officer and governor of the Portuguese colony of Angola in the 17th century.
In the 20th century, the name gained international recognition through figures like Viana de Almeida (1877-1952), a Portuguese painter and illustrator renowned for his works depicting traditional Portuguese life and customs. Additionally, Viana Vieyra (1928-2013) was a Brazilian actress and singer who achieved great success in telenovelas and on the stage.
While the name Viana has its roots in Portugal, it has also been adopted and used in various forms in other cultures and languages. For example, the Italian variation "Viana" and the Spanish "Viana" have been used as both given names and surnames, reflecting the name's enduring appeal and adaptability across different linguistic and cultural contexts.
People
Viana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Viana as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Viana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Viana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 765 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Viana going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 448,045 US residents.
Is Viana a common name?
We classify Viana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 793 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Viana most popular?
The single biggest year for Viana was 2021, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Viana is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Viana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 866 people with the name Viana, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,813 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Viana in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Viana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Viana appears almost entirely female. Of the 863 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Viana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Viana is Hispanic at 47.8%. The next largest groups are White (24.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Viana most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Viana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.8% (414 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Viana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Viana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Viana in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Viana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Viana in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Viana can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Viana as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Viana on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.