Virginia

The name Virginia is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "virginal, pure". Virginia is a lovely place name starting with the fashionable V and having deep historical roots, yet, unlike some other other girls' classics, has been sorely neglected in recent years. The colony/state of Virginia was given its name by Sir Walter Raleigh in honor of Elizabeth I, known as the Virgin Queen, and the first child to be born of English parents in the New World was christened Virginia Dare. Virginia was in the Top 10 for 25 years, from 1912 to 1937, hitting a high of Number 6 in 1921, when there were 19,000 newborn Virginias in their cradles. She does have a couple of possible downsides—those teasable virgin associations, and the not-quite-ready-for-revival Ginny nickname. But we think they're outweighed by more positive factors, and Virginia is in line for a possible revival. Virginia has such distinguished namesakes as writer Virginia Woolf, has been the subject of songs by groups ranging from The Rolling Stones to the Foo Fighters, and has appeared as a character in a number of books, movies, and TV shows—currently co-starring on Masters of Sex. Ginger Rogers was born Virginia.