Viviana

A name that keeps insisting on life itself, Viviana blooms from the Latin vivus, alive, the feminine cousin to Vivian and Vivienne with an extra romance-language vowel. Saint Viviana, a fourth-century Roman martyr, gave the name its original anchor, and Italian and Spanish-speaking families have kept it in steady rotation ever since. In the United States it climbed through the 2000s on the strength of Latina naming traditions and now holds a comfortable mid-range rank. Three lilting syllables, all open vowels, the V bright at start and middle. Viviana reads vivacious without being showy, a name that enters the room smiling.