Viridiana
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "green" or "youthful".
Name Census estimates that about 4,132 living Americans carry the first name Viridiana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Viridiana today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Viridiana births was 1995 (233 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Viridiana. 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.
People living today
4.1K
~ 1 in 82,951 Americans
Peak year
1995
233 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
1992 SSA rank
#6,123
Tracked since 1973
Census
Viridiana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,787 people with the first name Viridiana, which placed it at #3,192 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,192
National first-name rank
People counted
6.8K
6,787 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
98.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Viridiana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Viridiana is Hispanic at 98.7%. The next largest groups are White (1.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Viridiana described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Viridiana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.7% · 6,702
- White1.0% · 65
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 11
- Black or African American0.1% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.0% · 3
- Two or more races0.0% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Viridiana
Out of the 4,250 babies given the name Viridiana since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Viridiana as a male name
- Ranked #9,765 in 1992
- 5 male births in 1992
- Peak: 1992 (5 births)
Viridiana as a female name
- Ranked #6,123 in 2024
- 20 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1995 (233 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Viridiana appears almost entirely female. Of the 6,785 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Viridiana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Viridiana from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,738 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Viridiana 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 Viridiana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Viridianas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. California, Texas, Arizona recorded the most babies named Viridiana, while Utah, New Mexico, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 243 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Viridiana
The name Viridiana has its origins in Latin and Spanish. It is derived from the Latin word "viridis," meaning "green" or "verdant." The name likely emerged during the medieval period in Spain or other regions influenced by Latin and Romance languages.
Viridiana was a relatively uncommon name in ancient times, but it gained some popularity in the Middle Ages, particularly in Spanish-speaking regions. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the 13th-century Spanish text "Cantigas de Santa Maria," a collection of religious poems and songs dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
The name Viridiana may have been inspired by the reverence for nature and the color green, which symbolized fertility, renewal, and the lushness of the natural world. In some contexts, the name was also associated with the idea of freshness, youth, and vitality.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Viridiana. One of the earliest recorded was Viridiana de Guadalajara (c. 1200-1270), a Spanish nun and mystic who was known for her visions and spiritual writings. Another early bearer of the name was Viridiana de Sevilla (c. 1300-1370), a Franciscan tertiary and religious scholar from Seville, Spain.
In the 16th century, Viridiana de Guzmán (1510-1589) was a Spanish noblewoman and philanthropist who founded several hospitals and charitable institutions in her native Andalusia. During the same period, Viridiana de Mendoza (1525-1591) was a prominent figure in the Spanish court, serving as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabella of Portugal.
In more recent times, Viridiana was the title character of the 1961 Mexican film "Viridiana" directed by Luis Buñuel. The film, which explored themes of religious devotion and moral ambiguity, won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and is considered a masterpiece of Spanish cinema.
People
Viridiana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Viridiana 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
Viridiana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Viridiana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,132 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Viridiana 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 82,951 US residents.
Is Viridiana a common name?
We classify Viridiana as "Rare". It ranks above 96.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,250 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Viridiana most popular?
The single biggest year for Viridiana was 1995, when 233 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Viridiana is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Viridiana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,787 people with the name Viridiana, or 2.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,192 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Viridiana in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Viridiana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Viridiana appears almost entirely female. Of the 6,785 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Viridiana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Viridiana is Hispanic at 98.7%. The next largest groups are White (1.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Viridiana most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Viridiana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.7% (6,702 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Viridiana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Viridiana a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Viridiana 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.
Is Viridiana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Viridiana in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Viridiana can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How common is the name Viridiana?
You can see how many Americans are named Viridiana on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.