Virgil
About Virgil
The name of the greatest Roman poet and an early Irish saint who believed the earth was round, Virgil is heard most notably today as the name of designer Virgil Abloh of Off-White.
The first century poet known as Virgil, author of the influential epic Aeneid, was christened Publius Vergilius Maro. Centuries later, Virgil Tibbs was the noble police detective portrayed by Sidney Poitier in two films: In the Heat of the Night and They Call Me Mr. Tibbs. Currently, Virgil Minelli is a character on The Mentalist.
Virgil was the name of one of Wyatt Earp's brothers, a Tombstone, Arizona marshall. Virgil Thomson was a noted composer and musicologist, cartoonist Virgil Franklin Partch signed his work VIP, and astronaut Gus Grissom was born Virgil.
Virgil's greatest popularity took place in the early decades of the twentieth century: It was a Top 100 name for five nonconsecutive years.
As of October 2026, Virgil ranked #1417 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #93 in 1907, Nameberry popularity #591.
Editor's take: The name Virgil is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "staff bearer".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,943 | 75 | 39 |
| 2015 | #2,052 | 70 | 36.5 |
| 2016 | #1,761 | 88 | 46.4 |
| 2017 | #1,660 | 96 | 51.9 |
| 2018 | #2,014 | 73 | 40.2 |
| 2019 | #1,734 | 91 | 50.7 |
| 2020 | #1,787 | 85 | 49.2 |
| 2021 | #1,653 | 101 | 57.7 |
| 2022 | #1,935 | 81 | 46.4 |
| 2023 | #1,471 | 123 | 71.9 |
| 2024 | #1,542 | 114 | 66.2 |
| 2025 | #1,417 | 129 | 75.5 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Virgil.
- Pascal
- Enoch
- Mortimer
- Ulysses
- Wolfgang
- Cecil
- Thaddaeus
- Sylvester
- Boaz
- Florence
- Oswald
- Barnabas
- Crispin
- Jethro
- Klaus
- Horatio
- Clement
- Caspar
- Fergus
- Irving
Virgil on lists
Famous Virgils
- Virgil (born Publius Vergilius Maro)
Roman epic poet
- Virgil Walter Earp
U.S. Marshal; brother of Wyatt and Morgan Earp
- Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom
American astronaut
- Virgil Hamlin Goode
U.S. Congressman from Virginia
- Virgil Charles Frye
American actor; father of actress Soleil Moon Frye
- Virgil Leo Green
American football player
- Virgil Thomson
American composer
- Virgil Oliver "Fire" Trucks
American baseball player
- Virgil Keel Fox
American organist
- Virgil Walter Ross
American animator and cartoonist
- Virgil Riley Runnels Jr.
birth name of Dusty Rhodes, American pro wrestler
- Virgil
ring name of Michael Jones), American pro wrestler
- Virgil van Dijk
Dutch professional footballer
Virgil in pop culture
- Virgil Tibbs
main character in film and TV series "In the Heat of the Night"
- Virgil
character on TV's "Homeland"
- Virgil Fox
character in TV movie "Minutemen"
- Virgil Caine
main character in the song ''The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down'' by The Band
- Virgil Grissom Tracy
character in animated series "Thunderbirds"
- Virgil
AI character on TV's "Crash Zone"
- Virgil Malloy
character in film “Ocean’s Eleven”
- Virgil
orangutan character in film "Battle for the Planet of the Apes"
- Virgil
character on TV's "Xena: Warrior Princess"
- Virgil Sollozzo
character in book/film "The Godfather"
- Virgil
character in film "True Romance"
- Virgil Hawkins aka Static Shock
character in DC Comics
- Virgil
character in Thomas Sanders' YouTube series "Sanders Sides", representing his anxiety
Variations & nicknames
- VirgilioSpanish
- VirgileFrench