The name Virginia ranked 379th in popularity for females of all
ages in a sample of 2000-2003 Social Security Administration
statistics and 35th in popularity for females of all ages in a
sample of the 1990 US Census. This name is highly rated in the
1990 U.S. Census popularity survey of all ages, but after 1960
does not appear in the state data listing the most popular baby
names. This name was first spelled Verginia, and was the
feminine form of an ancient Roman clan name, Verginius. Over
time its spelling changed due to its association with the Latin
term virgo, meaning ''maiden.'' This meaning has driven the use
of the name ever since. In 1587, this was the name given the
first baby born to English colonists in the New World, Virginia
Dare. Both the baby and her home colony were named for Elizabeth
I, the Virgin Queen of England. The state of Virginia still
proudly bears this name. Virginia Dare's fate was different. She
and the rest of the colonists on Roanoke Island mysteriously
disappeared within three