By Kelli Brady of NameFreak!

　　The letter V gives us relatively few usable names, but many of  the ones it does give us are gems. From the queenly Victoria and the steady Vincent to the wonderfully rare Verity and the popular sound of Vander, V names are where it’s at!  Just take a look at some names celebrities are choosing for their little ones, such as Violet, Vivienne and Viggo.

　　As I looked at the V names from 2012, I couldn’t help but notice a lot of forgotten ones that deserve to be remembered, as well as some interesting picks from beyond the US borders. Let’s take a look at the names that jumped out at me with their number of 2012 births…

　　Well-Known

　　Valentina 1984Valeria  2136Valerie  1854Vanessa 2540Veronica  1012Victoria  6814Violet 3253Vivian 2240

　　Victor 2852Vincent 3705

　　Oldies But Goodies

　　Velma 5Vera 608Viola 162Virginia 502

　　Vernon 115Vince 150Virgil 50

　　Place Names

　　Venice 28Verona 29Vienna 214

　　Words

　　Valentine 28Valkyrie 26Vanity 43Velvet 12Venus 73Verity 51Victory 40

　　Valentine 25Valor 42

　　From Beyond Our Borders

　　Valencia 92 (Spanish)Vanna 35 (Italian)Vanya 38 (Russian)Veda 175 (Indian)Vida 136 (Hungarian)Violeta 230 (Spanish)Viviana 637 (Italian, Spanish)Vivienne 978 (French)

　　Valentin 231 (Scandinavian, French, German, Slavic)Valentino 270 (Italian)Vicente 238 (Spanish)Vidal 35 (Spanish)Viggo 29 (Scandinavian)Vihaan 366 (Indian)Vincenzo 304 (Italian)Viraj 51 (Indian)Vito 75 (Italian, Spanish)Vivaan 169 (Indian)Vladimir 147 (Slavic)Vladislav 17 (Slavic)

　　Various Other Vs

　　Vada 157Vala 12Vashti 19 (Biblical)Vega 23 (a star in the constellation Lyra)Vesper 30Vianney 120Vivica 18

　　Valen 47Van 248Vander 60 (like the popular Xander and Zander but with a V!)Varun 64Vash 15 (we have Cash and Nash, why not Vash?)Vaughn 241Veer 138Vinson 36Von 42

　　I know Virginia could be put in the Place Name category, but I just love it so much as an “Oldie But Goodie” I had to put it there (and hope it will make a comeback soon).

　　Only Victoria and Violet make the US Top 100 in 2012, at #28 and #89 respectively.  However, 100 years ago, in 1912, Virginia (#20), Viola (#52), Vera (#68), Vincent (#72), Victor (#81), Violet (#83), Vivian (#84), Velma (#88), and Vernon (#90) all made the Top 100. In 2012, seventeen other V names reached the Top 1000, while over thirty more reached it in 1912, including Verna, Virgie, Vesta, Vern, Velva, Vernice, Velda, Vina, Verla, Vester, and Vella. Note: There were over 27,000 fewer births in 1912 than in 2012. In any case, where have all the good V’s gone?

　　What is your favorite V name?

　　Originally posted at NameFreak! on July 8, 2013 and revised for Nameberry.

　　Kelli Brady is a stay at home mom of two who needed an outlet for her name obsession. She found it at NameFreak!, a blog dedicated to a wide variety of name-related whims and fancies. You can also follow her on Facebook and Twitter.