Meanings
- A male given name from Latin.
Of the you're-going-to-get-it-anyway faction was a young Australian on board by the name, so help me, of Vivian Nankervis. - - - And he was beautiful, even with a name like Vivian; moreover, he had never been ill a day in his life.
1942, Caroline Mytinger, Headhunting in the Solomon Islands, Macmillan, page 13 - A female given name from Latin.
'What's your name?' 'Vivian.' 'Isn't that one of the names that mean something?' She said, 'It means my mother used to go to the movies.'
1990, Paul Theroux, Chicago Loop, Hamish Hamilton Ltd, →ISBN, page 70 - A surname originating as a patronymic.
"Mr. Grey," asked her ladyship, "are you of Dorsetshire?" "My mother is a Dorsetshire woman; her family name is Vivian, which name I also bear - Sir Hargrave Vivian, of Chester Grange."
1827, Benjamin Disraeli, Vivian Grey, E. L. Carey and A. Hart (1837), page 117
Origin
- LatinVīviānus
- EnglishVivian
Early saints' name from Latin Vīviānus, and of its feminine form Vīviāna, probably from vīvus (“alive”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish Vivian
- Vivianfemale given name
Finnish Viivi
- Viivifemale given name
French Vivian, Vivien
- Vivianmale given name
- Vivienmale given name
- Vivianefemale given name
- Viviennefemale given name
German Vivien
- Vivienfemale given name
Hindi विवियन, विवियन
- विवियन (viviyan)male given name
- विवियन (viviyan)female given name
Hungarian Vivien
- Vivienfemale given name
Norwegian Vivian
- Vivianfemale given name
Swedish Vivianne
- Viviannefemale given name
Cite this entry
Vivian. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vivian
“Vivian.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vivian. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Vivian,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Vivian.
Source: Vivian on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.