Viva
A feminine name derived from the Latin word vivere, meaning "alive".
Name Census estimates that about 809 living Americans carry the first name Viva. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Viva today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Viva births was 1921 (103 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Viva. 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 Viva with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
809
~ 1 in 423,677 Americans
Peak year
1921
103 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,124
Tracked since 1880
Census
Viva in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,079 people with the first name Viva, which placed it at #11,742 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
#11,742
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,079 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Viva
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Viva is White at 67.5%. The next largest groups are Black (13.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.9%). 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 Viva 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 Viva at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.5% · 728
- Black or African American13.4% · 145
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.9% · 85
- Hispanic or Latino7.7% · 83
- Two or more races2.5% · 27
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 11
Popularity
Viva: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Viva from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 722 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Viva 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 Viva during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vivas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Arkansas, Texas, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Viva, while West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 31 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Viva
The name Viva has its roots in the Latin language, derived from the word "vivere," which means "to live." It is believed to have originated during the Roman era, when Latin was widely spoken throughout the Roman Empire.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Viva can be found in ancient Roman texts, where it was often used as an exclamation of joy or celebration, similar to the modern-day "hurrah" or "hooray." In these contexts, it was a way to express enthusiasm and zest for life.
During the Middle Ages, the name Viva gained popularity among some Christian communities, particularly in Italy and Spain. It was sometimes given to children as a symbolic wish for them to live a long and vibrant life, reflecting the name's literal meaning.
In the 16th century, a notable figure named Viva Ludovico Della Robbia (1460-1537) was an Italian sculptor and ceramist from Florence. He was known for his terracotta sculptures and his contributions to the della Robbia family's artistic legacy.
Another historical figure with the name Viva was Viva Lucia Valerio (1624-1694), an Italian painter and printmaker from Naples. She was recognized for her portraits and religious works, which were highly regarded during her lifetime.
In the 19th century, Viva Perpetua Felicia Paulina (1782-1857) was a Spanish nun and writer who authored several religious texts and poems. She is remembered for her devotion to her faith and her literary contributions.
During the 20th century, Viva Las Vegas became a popular phrase associated with the city of Las Vegas, Nevada, celebrating its vibrant entertainment and tourism industry. While not a person's name, this phrase helped to further popularize the word "viva" as an expression of joy and excitement.
One of the most famous individuals with the name Viva was Viva Bianca (born in 1983), an Australian actress known for her roles in various television shows and films, including "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" and "Xena: Warrior Princess."
People
Viva + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Viva 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
Viva: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Viva?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 809 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Viva 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 423,677 US residents.
Is Viva a common name?
We classify Viva as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,583 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Viva most popular?
The single biggest year for Viva was 1921, when 103 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Viva is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Viva in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,079 people with the name Viva, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,742 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 Viva 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 Viva?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Viva leans strongly female. 1,059 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 16 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Viva?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Viva is White at 67.5%. The next largest groups are Black (13.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.9%). 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 Viva most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Viva in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.5% (728 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 Viva in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Viva a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Viva 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 Viva still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Viva 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 Viva 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 are named Viva?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.