Girl Dog Names That Start With V

Vital and vivacious, Vita is stirring back to life along with many of her V-themed sisters -- Vivian, Vivica -- and is becoming a new celebrity baby favorite.

Like Vita and Viva, one of several similar life-affirming names, this one was chosen by Matthew McConaughey and his Portuguese-born wife Camila. Vida may also be a diminutive of Davida. Australian suffragette and human rights campainer Vida Goldstein is an notable bearer of this name.

This Persian name with an Old Testament pedigree has a warm Sasha-like feel. The Biblical Vashti was a queen who refused her husband's orders to appear naked in front of his party guests and so was deposed in favor of Esther. For her independent spirit, Vashti has become something of a feminist icon.

Vivi is a short form of all the Vivian and Viveca forms that is sure to get a lot more attention now that a little Jolie-Pitt girl has been named Vivienne.

Vela is one of those rare names that is at once simple, straightforward, authentic, and unusual, at least in the Western World. Besides being an Indian girls' name, Vela is a Southern sky constellation whose name is Latin for sail – originally part of the Argo Navis constellation.

For a girl, we'd say Val-en-teen, though many would insist on pronouncing it like the holiday.

Said to refer to either Jupiter or Venus, either of which would be preferable as a name.

In Norse mythology, the valkyries decide the fate of men in battle and convey the spirits of those killed in combat to Valhalla, to dwell with the god Odin.

Velvet is a name that couldn't possibly be softer or more luxuriant. Many people have fond memories of it via the character of Velvet Brown, played by the young Elizabeth Taylor in National Velvet, an intrepid young woman willing to masquerade as a boy to race her horse in a dangerous steeplechase.

An appealing Italianate alternative.

Viva la baby with this life-affirming name, one of the appealing group of girl names that mean life.! Singer Rufus Wainwright chose it for his baby daughter, perhaps in celebration of a new life entering the world the year after he lost his mother Kate McGarrigle. The baby's middle name is Katherine.

Verna may mean "springtime," but May or Spring is fresher.

While Vanilla might be too bland, the French version is more flavorful.

Velma likely originated as a phonetic spelling of the German name Wilma, itself derived from Wilhelmina. Velma Dinkley is a smart, if nerdy, character in Scooby Doo.

This is one of the most vibrant and feminine of the names meaning life, and it's sure to gain more attention as the whole sisterhood of Viv- names rise.

Adds French flair to Victoria, though many Americans would find pronunciation a challenge.

This once vivacious midcentury nickname is rarely used for modern babies.

Veronica seems poised to rise again, along with many other V names, and with it may follow this more romantic French version.

Occasionally heard in the 1920s and 30s, along with siblings Bina and Mina; Vienna would be a more modern choice.