Origin: |
Victoria is a Latin name meaning "victory." In Roman mythology, Victoria was the winged-goddess of Victory, equivalent to the Greek goddess Nike. |
Usage: |
Victoria had some use in the early Roman Christian Empire. The mother of the Gallic Emperor Victorinus was named Victoria (d.271) and there was a 1st century martyr named Victoria, the servant of St Edistus. There is also record a 3rd century martyr and two 4th century martyrs, and a Saint Victoria of Albitina (d.304). Despite being the names of early saints, there is little evidence that Victoria was used as a given name in the Middle Ages. We find the first examples in the 16th century, no doubt thanks to a rising fashion for classical names. Even then, however, the name was uncommon in Britain. By the 18th century, Victoria (and French and Prussian cognate forms Victoire and Viktoria) was in good use amongst French, German and Prussian aristocracy. One of the first royals to bear the name was Duchess Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria (1660–1690) – known as Dauphine Victoire – a Bavarian princess who married Louis of France, Le Grand Dauphin. She was most likely given the name in honour of her maternal grandfather Victor Amadeus I, Duke of Savoy. In Britain, the name came to prominence thanks to Queen Victoria (1819–1901). Queen Victoria was the only daughter of the Duke of Kent (the fourth son of George III) and Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld. After the death of George III's only legitimate grandchild, Princess Charlotte, in 1817, a succession crisis occurred forcing the Duke of Kent and his unmarried brothers to marry and provide heirs. Victoria was the only surviving legitimate child to be born to the brothers. At her baptism, her parents proposed the names Georgi(a)na, Charlotte and Augusta, but all where rejected by the Prince Regent – who, according to royal precedence, held the power of veto. He only agreed to Alexandrina, after her godfather Emperor Alexander I of Russia, and Victoria, after her mother. There was no love lost between the Regent and his brother, and one get's the impression that George was expressly forbidding the use of 'traditional' British Georgian royal names, accepting only names of foreign royal houses. Little Princess Alexandrina Victoria went by the name "Drina" as a child, but she preferred Victoria, and was generally known as "Princess Victoria" by the British public. In 1831, when Victoria was 12, it was debated in Parliament whether the princess's name should be changed to something "more accordant to the feelings of the people" such as Elizabeth as "there would be no difficulty in handing down the name of Elizabeth, instead of Victoria, as the Queen of this country."* Indeed, Victoria was clearly proud of her name – or at least determined enough to see it firmly established as "royal". Not only did she name her eldest daughter Victoria, 17 of her 22 granddaughters were given the name, with 7 of them receiving it as a first name. Despite the name being so dominant in British royalty in the 19th century, it was surprisingly underused among the general population. With the exception of key patriotic years such as 1837/38 (Victoria's succession/coronation), 1840 (Victoria's marriage), 1897 (the year of the Diamond Jubilee) 1900 (during the Boer War) and 1901 (Victoria's death) Victoria rarely ranked in the top 100. Records for Victoria as a first name in the England and Wales Birth Index:
After falling out of the top 100 at the beginning of the 20th century, Victoria saw a triumphant revival in the later 1960s. By 1974, it ranked at #18 in England and Wales: its highest ever rank in Britain up to that point. It rose to #7 by 1984 and gradually began to decline from that point. Victoria ranked in the top 50 until 2000 and left the top 100 for the first time in 2004. Between 2004 and 2012, Victoria stayed, for the most part, just below the top 100. It started to rise again in 2013, and has been in the top 100 since. Most of this usage is focused in England, especially in London (where Victoria ranked #33 in 2016 versus #91 nationally). In 2017, Victoria ranked #92 in England alone but only #219 in Wales. Historically, Victoria has also been less common in Scotland, also. It does not rank in the Scottish top 100 of 1900 or 1950, and in 1974 (when Victoria was #18 in England), Victoria ranked #48 in Scotland. It peaked at #16 in 1983 and remained in the top 100 until 2002. It has since continued to decline in use, ranking #149 in 2017. |
Famous Bearers: |
Royalty: * Dauphine Victoire of France (1660–1690), also known as Duchess Maria Anna Victoria of Bavaria. History: * Victoria (died 271), mother of Gallic Emperor Victorinus. Contemporary: * Victoria Wood (1953-2016), English singer, writer and comedian. Literature and Other Media: * Victoria, a vampire in the Twilight series. |
Variants: |
Viktoria (German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Estonian, Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian), Victoire (French), Vittoria (Italian), Viktoriya (Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian), Wiktoria (Polish) |
Pronunciation: |
vik-TOR-ee-ə [key] |
Possible diminutives: |
Cora, Ria, Rory, Thora, Tori, Toria, Tovi, Vita, Queenie, Cherry, Plum |
Sibling Names: |
Rebecca Elizabeth Francesca Matilda Felicity Abigail |
Name Lists: |
Resonant Roman Royal British Names Royal European Names Names of Roses |
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Thanks to Julia for requesting this name.