Boys' name · peaked in 1907
Virgil name popularity since 1925
48,881 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Virgil (1.5% girls, 98.5% boys). Half of them were born in 1945 or earlier, so the typical Virgil is about 81 years old in 2026. Virgil peaked in 1907 as the #93 name for boys, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 48,881
- Named Virgil, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1907
- #93 for boys that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,417 for boys in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 98.5% boys
- 711 girls · 48,170 boys
- Most popular in
- West Virginia
- 3.77× its national share
Peak year is the year Virgil made up the largest share of US boys, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Virgil births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1926. Measured as a share of all babies, Virgil peaked earlier, in 1907.
- Steepest fall: Between 1975 and 1980, Virgil's share of baby boys fell by 43%, from 1 in 5,020 to 1 in 8,790.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Virgil's share of all US boys five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Virgil.
Decade by decade
Babies named Virgil in each decade, and its rank among boys' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 145 | 7,321 | – |
| 1930s | 161 | 11,363 | #141 |
| 1940s | 154 | 8,950 | #183 |
| 1950s | 122 | 7,286 | #268 |
| 1960s | 70 | 5,208 | #338 |
| 1970s | 43 | 3,147 | #452 |
| 1980s | 16 | 1,746 | #730 |
| 1990s | 0 | 1,067 | #1,186 |
| 2000s | 0 | 685 | #1,868 |
| 2010s | 0 | 764 | #2,052 |
| 2020–25 | 0 | 633 | #1,417 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 boys that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
41.0% of babies named Virgil from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Virgil is most popular
The index compares Virgil's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Virgil.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | 3.77× | 1,479 |
| Kentucky | 3.40× | 2,544 |
| South Dakota | 3.23× | 459 |
| Oklahoma | 3.14× | 1,829 |
| Kansas | 2.99× | 1,360 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Virgil's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Virgil.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Virgil (1907).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data