Vinnie
Diminutive form of Vincent, derived from Latin meaning "conquering".
Name Census estimates that about 1,395 living Americans carry the first name Vinnie. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 79.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Vinnie today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vinnie births was 1916 (66 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vinnie. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Vinnie was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 245,702 Americans
Peak year
1916
66 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,857
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Vinnie
Vinnie is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 3,918 total registrations, 805 (20.5%) were male and 3,113 (79.5%) were female.
Vinnie as a male name
- Ranked #5,857 in 2024
- 16 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1989 (26 births)
Vinnie as a female name
- Ranked #12,037 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1916 (66 births)
Popularity
Vinnie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vinnie from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 477 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vinnie by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Vinnie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vinnies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. Georgia, Alabama, New York recorded the most babies named Vinnie, while Arkansas, Kentucky, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vinnie
The name Vinnie is a diminutive form of the Italian name Vincenzo, derived from the Late Latin name Vincentius. Vincentius itself is derived from the Latin word "vincere," meaning "to conquer" or "to overcome." The name can be traced back to the early Christian period, when it was given in honor of the celebrated 3rd-century martyr Saint Vincent of Saragossa.
Vinnie has its roots in the ancient Roman Empire, where it was initially used as a cognomen or nickname. The earliest recorded use of the name Vincenzo dates back to the 4th century AD, when it appeared in various Italian ecclesiastical records. During the Middle Ages, the name became popular across Europe, particularly in Italy, France, and Spain.
One of the earliest notable figures bearing the name was Vincenzo di Beauvais (c. 1190-1264), a Dominican friar and scholar who authored the influential encyclopedia "Speculum Maius." Another prominent historical figure was Vincenzo Galilei (c. 1520-1591), an Italian lutenist, composer, and father of the famous astronomer Galileo Galilei.
In the 16th century, the name gained further prominence with the artist Vincenzo Campi (c. 1536-1591), a prominent painter of the Cremonese School in Italy. During the Renaissance period, the name was also borne by Vincenzo Scamozzi (c. 1548-1616), a renowned Venetian architect who designed various notable buildings, including the Procuratie Nuove in Venice.
In the 19th century, the name was associated with the Italian composer Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835), best known for his operas "Norma" and "La Sonnambula." Another notable figure was Vincenzo Gioberti (1801-1852), an Italian philosopher and political theorist who played a significant role in the Risorgimento movement for Italian unification.
As the name Vinnie gained popularity in English-speaking countries, it became associated with various notable individuals, such as Vinnie Barbarino, a character portrayed by John Travolta in the 1970s TV series "Welcome Back, Kotter." In the world of sports, Vinnie Johnson (born 1956) was a professional basketball player who won two NBA championships with the Detroit Pistons.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Vinnie
People
Vinnie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vinnie as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Vinnie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vinnie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,395 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vinnie going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 245,702 US residents.
Is Vinnie a common name?
We classify Vinnie as "Rare". It ranks above 92% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,918 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vinnie most popular?
The single biggest year for Vinnie was 1916, when 66 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vinnie is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Vinnie a female name?
Yes, 79.5% of people registered as Vinnie in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.