Virginia (given name)

Virginia is a Germanic and Romance feminine given name thought to be derived from the Ancient Roman family name Verginius or Virginius. It means "maiden" or "virgin" and may also be used for this reason, without connection to family names, as in the case of its usage in the case of Queen Elizabeth I, who was also called "the Virgin Queen" due to her lack of marriage. According to legend, Virginia was a Roman girl who was killed by her father in order to save her from seduction by the corrupt government official Appius Claudius Crassus. The name was the 34th most common name for American women and girls, according to the census of 1990. It was the 545th most popular name given to baby girls born in the United States in 2007. Virginia Dare was the first child born to English parents in North America. Virginia O'Hanlon wrote a letter that prompted the famous "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" editorial in the September 21, 1897 edition of The New York Sun. The most famous Virginia is probably the English modernist author Virginia Woolf.