Violet
Meaning
"the violet," from the Latin viola, the small purple flower of modesty in the old flower language; a fixture of Victorian nurseries revived a century later into the top tier. The rare color name and flower name in one
Goes by Vi
The story
Violet, from the Latin viola, is the small purple flower that the old language of flowers assigned to modesty, and Victorian parents planted it in their nurseries alongside Lily and Rose. In America it bloomed early, running strong from the 1890s into the 1920s, then wilted slowly to near-invisibility by midcentury and stayed there for decades, a name pressed in lace and wallpaper. The revival is recent and remarkable: a climb out of the 1990s that turned steep through the 2010s and now has the 2020s sitting at the name's highest point on record, above even its early-1900s showing. It is hard not to notice that Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck named a much-photographed daughter Violet in 2005, just before the steepest stretch began. A color and a flower in a single word, Violet came back almost exactly a century after it left, right on the vintage schedule.
Violet around the world
One shared root links 4 names across 4 languages.
Shared root: from Latin viola "violet", the flower of modesty
The constellation
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Violet peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
47 people · the #69,533 first name in Brazil · median age 8
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Violet
Most people given the name Violet in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Violet deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Violet truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Violet fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Names like Violet · Nicknames for Violet · Middle names for Violet
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