How popular is the baby name Virginia in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Virginia.

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Popularity of the baby name Virginia


Posts that mention the name Virginia

Babies named for Dovima

Fashion model Dovima (1927-1990) in the movie "Funny Face" (1957)
Dovima

The rare name Dovima has never appeared in the U.S. baby name data. But it has popped up a few times in the birth records:

  • Dovima R. Sanchez (born in 1956 in California)
  • Dovima M. Tom (b. 1959, California)
  • Dovima M. Ayers (b. 1959, Vermont)

I think their shared first name was inspired by one of the highest-paid fashion models of the 1950s — and the very first model to go by a single name — Dovima.

Dovima worked with photographers like Horst P. Horst, Irving Penn, and Richard Avedon (who called her “the last of the great elegant, aristocratic beauties”). Her photographs appeared in magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar.

Notably, she also had a small role in the romantic comedy Funny Face (1957), which starred Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire.

How did she come to have her single name?

She was born Dorothy Virginia Margaret Juba in New York City in 1927. She spent several years of her childhood bedridden with rheumatic fever, and, during that time, invented the name “Dovima” (from the first letters of her three given names: Dorothy, Virginia, Margaret) for an imaginary friend.

What are your thoughts on the name Dovima?

P.S. Another three-in-one name I’ve blogged about is Louvima.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Funny Face

[Latest update: Sept. 2024]

What turned Sway into a baby name in 2001?

The character Sway from the movie "Gone in 60 Seconds" (2000)
Sara “Sway” Wayland from “Gone in 60 Seconds”

The word Sway popped up for the first time in the U.S. baby name data in 2001:

  • 2003: 14 baby girls and 5 baby boys named Sway
  • 2002: 12 baby girls named Sway
  • 2001: 8 baby girls named Sway [debut]
  • 2000: unlisted
  • 1999: unlisted

For a long time I assumed the main influence was MTV personality Sway Calloway. But, while I still think Sway had an influence on male usage, I’ve since discovered a much better explanation for the 2001 debut as a female name.

One of the main characters in the 2000 car heist film Gone in 60 Seconds was mechanic-slash-bartender Sara “Sway” Wayland (played by Angelina Jolie). She was the love interest of protagonist Randall “Memphis” Raines (played by Nicolas Cage), who was tasked with stealing 50 specific, expensive cars inside of 72 hours.

The film didn’t get great reviews, but I do remember appreciating the fact that each of the 50 cars was assigned a feminine code-name:

Mary, Barbara, Lindsey, Laura, Alma, Madeline, Patricia, Carol, Daniela, Stefanie, Erin, Pamela, Olga, Anne, Kate, Vanessa, Denise, Diane, Lisa, Nadine, Angelina, Rose, Susan, Tracey, Rachel, Bernadene, Deborah, Stacey, Josephine, Hillary, Kimberley, Renee, Dorothy, Donna, Samantha, Ellen, Gabriela, Shannon, Jessica, Sharon, Tina, Marsha, Natalie, Virginia, Tanya, Grace, Ashley, Cathy, Lynn, Eleanor

So, how do you feel about the name Sway? If you were having a baby girl, would you be more likely to name her something modern, like Sway, or something traditional, like Sara or Susan?

Sources: Gone in 60 Seconds (2000 film) – Wikipedia, Talk:Gone in 60 Seconds (2000 film) – Wikipedia

Where did the baby name Tonga come from in 1953?

The character Tonga (played by Nina Bara) from the sci-fi TV series "Space Patrol" (1950-1955)
Tonga from “Space Patrol“

The intriguing name Tonga debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1953:

  • 1955: unlisted
  • 1954: unlisted
  • 1953: 7 baby girls named Tonga [debut]
  • 1952: unlisted
  • 1951: unlisted

I don’t think the Polynesian country had anything to do with it. Instead, I’m thinking that it may have come from the the early science-fiction TV series Space Patrol. It began as a Los Angeles-only show in early 1950, but by early 1951 it was being syndicated nationally both on TV and on radio (thanks to being picked up by the ABC network).

Set a thousand years in the future, the show featured members of the Space Patrol crew endeavoring to fight against the bad guys of the solar system. The two female crew members were named Tonga (played by Nina Bara) and Carol (Virginia Hewitt). Tonga’s character began as a criminal, but by the time the show had a national audience, she had undergone a “Brainograph” treatment and joined up with the good guys.

The name Tonga may have been given a boost in 1953 specifically thanks to LIFE magazine drawing attention to the show in a 1952 feature article (“Space Patrol Conquers Kids,” Sept. 1952)…or maybe it simply showed up because Space Patrol‘s audience was still growing at that time.

But the name dropped out of the data the very next year — possibly because actress Nina Bara was released from the show in late 1953, so the character Tonga didn’t appear in the show very frequently after that.

All this said…I should also mention that the name Tanya and its variants were on the rise during the 1950s, and that “Tonga” ended up being used as a variant of Tanya on occasion (likely by way of Tanja). So that’s another possible reason for the debut.

Do you like Tonga as a baby name? If so, how would you pronounce it?

Sources:

P.S. A supporting character in the 1953 Gary Cooper movie Return to Paradise also happened to be named Tonga, but this character was male.

Where did the baby name Darrylin come from in 1949?

Darrylin Zanuck (1931-2015)
Darrylin Zanuck (in 1949)

Years before the boy name Darryl was at the height of its trendiness (in the early ’60s), the Darryl-based, Marilyn-like name Darrylin debuted in the baby name data:

  • 1951: 8 baby girls named Darrylin
  • 1950: unlisted
  • 1949: 11 baby girls named Darrylin [debut]
  • 1948: unlisted
  • 1947: unlisted

What made it show up in 1949 specifically?

Darrylin Zanuck, the teenage daughter of famous film producer Darryl Zanuck (founder of 20th Century Fox) and his wife Virginia (a former silent film actress).

She was in the news starting in August of 1949, after her parents announced that the 18-year-old had just gotten engaged to a 22-year-old University of Southern California student named Robert “Bob” Jacks (who went on to become a TV producer). The announcement mentioned that the couple would wed after his graduation the following year, but the pair ended up marrying just a few months later, in November.

And here’s some interesting trivia: Darrylin was a pioneering lady-surfer. In 1947, surfboard maker Joe Quigg crafted a board just for her — it was shorter and lighter than the boards being used by men at the time — and that board has since come to be known as the “Darrylin Board.”

What are your thoughts on the name Darrylin?

P.S. Here’s another name coined by Darryl and Virginia Zanuck: Darvi.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Darrylin Zanuck via DPLA under CC BY 3.0.