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The first name 
Violet

Violet is a first name typically given to girls, but in rare cases also used as a boys name.

The name Violet is very popular!

The first name Violet is one of the top 100 most popular girls names in the US – currently at #40 in our SmartGenius ranking. Over 1,000 babies each year are named Violet, accounting for approximately 0.30 % of all newborn girls. In the entire USA, approximately 148,790 people – children, adults and seniors – currently bear the name Violet. That is 0.04 % of all living Americans.

You won't believe all there is 
to discover about the name
 
Violet

What does the name 
Violet mean?

The first name Violet comes (with different pronunciation) from English or French. In both languages it comes from the eponymous flower. Other variants of the name are Viola, Violeta, Violetta or Violette.

Interesting facts! At New York University, all sports teams or competitive teams have the nickname NYC Violets - the school colors are purple and white. However, the mascot is not a violet, but a bobcat.

Violet has many namesakes

A Peanuts Character

Violet Gray
Violet Gray is a recurring character in the comic strip 'Peanuts' by Charles M. Schulz. She is often portrayed as a classmate of the main character Charlie Brown and is known for her bossy behavior and sarcastic comments.

First Female NBA Referee

Violet Palmer (*1964)
Violet Palmer is a retired professional basketball referee and the first female official to work in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1997. She served as an NBA referee for over two decades and was appreciated for breaking barriers and paving the way for other women in the field.

Famous Drag Queen and Model

Violet Chachki (*1992)
Violet Chachki is an American drag queen, burlesque/aerial performer, and model. It is the stage name of Paul Jason Dardo. Violet Chachki rose to prominence after winning the seventh season of 'RuPaul's Drag Race'. Chachki has since become a successful touring performer and fashion icon, known for their avant-garde style and stunning runway looks. Chachki is genderfluid and uses she/her and they/them pronouns.

A Real Survivor

Violet Jessop (1887 - 1971)
Violet Jessop was an Irish-Argentinian nurse and ocean liner stewardess. She became widely known for surviving the sinkings of both the RMS Titanic and its sister ship, the HMHS Britannic. Throughout her career, she also served on other White Star Line ships, including the RMS Olympic.

Go on a journey to places 
with your name

When you hear the name Violet, you might first think of a woman or a girl. But did you know that there are also places with the name Violet? Are you also called Violet? Maybe one day you will visit the places that are named just like you...

In the western part of the island of Maui...

there is a small high-elevation lake called Violet Lake. In Hawaiian, its name is Ki'owaiokihawahine.

155 mph winds to Boston...

brought Hurricane Violet in October 2020. The tropical cyclone caused unprecedented havoc in Boston. In general, it affected the states of Massachusetts and Maine.

There are at least...

three unincorporated communities called Violet all over the USA. They are located in the states of Missouri, Texas, and West Virginia.

City of the Violet Crown

City of the Violet Crown is a term for the two cities Athens and Austin. Both cities were called this way in novels or poems, probably because of an atmospheric light.

Violet -
in the 2000s more popular than ever before

If we dig really deep into our statistics, we find that there are very few girls' names that have been consistently popular for so long that they have been given to newborns in every single year since the beginning of our records in 1880. In fact, there are only 432 girls' names that appear in our statistics in every single year, and Violet is one of those very special classics. At the same time, Violet has never been more popular than it is in this century - in 2022, the name even made it to rank #20 of the most popular girls' names, easily landing in the top 100 of our SmartGenius first name statistics.

In years where the graph has no value, the name Violet was given less than five times or even none at all in the entire USA.

Happy Birthday - 6,434 girls named Violet celebrate their second birthday this year

...because: In 2022, 6,434 girls were born and given the name Violet by their parents. That puts Violet at #20 on our list of most popular girls' names. It was much less popular in 1990 - only 127 parents chose this name for their newborn daughter and it ranked 1,211 on the popularity scale of all girls' names.

Violet -
well known in all states of the USA, most popular in Hawaii

There are only 537 different women’s names registered in every single state in the U.S., and Violet is one of them. However, Violet is not equally widespread in all states, but people in Hawaii seem to particularly fancy this name – the 1,368 women called Violet who live here are 0,310% of all female residents and push their name up to #81, easily placing it in the top 100 most common female names in Hawaii.

Violet has 6 letters 
and begins with a V

Well, you might say, you probably figured that out yourself! But what you might not know is: The letter V is quite rare as an initial letter for girls' names: only 1.6% of all common girls' names in the US begin with V, which means that this initial occurs only about half as often as the other letters on average. But V is by no means the rarest initial. While Q, X and U are the least common initials of girls' names, the most common first letters of girls' names are A, S and M.

With six letters, the name Violet is of average length. In fact, 28% of all common first names in the US consist of exactly six letters. 24% of all first names are shorter, while 48% have seven letters or more. On average, first names in the US (not counting hyphenated names) are 6.5 letters long. There are no significant differences between boys' and girls' names.

From this follows that if 1.6% of all girls' names begin with a V, this initial letter is less common than the other letters on average. Incidentally, of the comparatively few girls' names that begin with a V, Virginia is currently the most common.

Other names with 
V, i, o, l, e and t

If you take all the letters in the name Violet – V, i, o, l, e and t – and put them together again, you can form other names, such as Olivet or Voilet.

With hands, flags and sounds 
How to say Violet

If your name is Violet and someone asks after your name, you can of course just tell them what it is. But sometimes that isn't so easy - what if it's too loud, and you don't understand them well? Or what if the other person is so far away that you can see them but not hear them? In these situations, you can communicate your name in so many other ways: you call spell it, sign it, or even use a flag to wave it...

This is how you spell the name Violet

So that everyone really understands you when you have to spell the name Violet, you can simply say:

Violin

Igloo

Orange

Lion

Elephant

Tiger

This is how the name Violet is spelled in the NATO phonetic alphabet

The NATO alphabet often helps people spell words on the phone or radio when there are communication problems.

How do you write Violet in Braille?

Braille is made up of dots, which the blind and visually impaired can feel to read words.

Violet

Violet

You want to tell a deaf person that your name is Violet

Just use American Sign Language!

The name Violet is particularly colorful in the Semaphore flag signaling system!

These flags are used for maritime communication - each flag represents a letter.

V
I
O
L
E
T

Have you ever waved the name Violet

In the navy, sailors of two ships might wave flags to each other to send messages. A sailor holds two flags in specific positions to represent different letters.

V
I
O
L
E
T

Beeping like crazy...

In Morse code, letters and other characters are represented only by a series of short and long tones. For example, a short tone followed by a long tone stands for the letter A. Violet sounds like this: