Vivienne

Vivienne is the French form of the Latin Viviana, rooted in vivus, "alive," a name that reads like a small declaration. It carries Arthurian weight through the Lady of the Lake, and twentieth-century style through couturier Vivienne Westwood. Angelina Jolie chose it for her daughter in 2008, and American parents followed; the spelling with the double n has pulled slightly ahead of Vivian in recent years, currently resting at rank 184. Three syllables, the middle one a light exhalation, the ending soft. Vivienne feels Parisian in cut, literary in mood. Chic, spirited, and fond of a good coat.