Vivian’s Notebook: Personalized Journal for Vivian
Give Vivian a notebook that's unmistakably hers. Vivian's Notebook has her name in elegant script over a pink watercolor apple blossom cover.
- 160 lined pages
- 6" x 9" paperback
- Watercolor apple blossom cover with "Vivian's Notebook" on the front
- Printed and shipped by Amazon
Where does the name Vivian come from?
Vivian means “alive”. Behind the Name takes it from the Latin name Vivianus, from vivus, “alive”, and says Saint Vivian was a 5th-century French bishop who protected his people during the Visigoth invasion. Wikipedia says the spelling Vivian was long used only for men, but that from the 19th century it was increasingly given to girls, and by the mid-20th century it was almost entirely a girls’ name in the US. In Arthurian legend, Wikipedia adds, Vivian is one of the names of the Lady of the Lake.
Other forms of Vivian
Behind the Name lists Vivi as the Scandinavian diminutive and Vivyan and Vyvyan as variant spellings. Wikipedia adds the feminine relatives Viviana, Viviane and Vivienne. Vivi is the bubbly everyday choice, and Vivienne the elegant French twin.
Well-known Vivians
Street photographer Vivian Maier took more than 150,000 photographs while working as a nanny in Chicago for 40 years; her work was discovered only after her death and is the subject of the Oscar-nominated Finding Vivian Maier (2013). Vivian Vance won an Emmy playing Ethel Mertz on I Love Lucy. And Vivian Malone Jones, whom Alabama governor George Wallace tried to physically block from enrolling, became the first Black American student to graduate from the University of Alabama, in 1965.
Vivian’s popularity
Vivian is a revival name. US Social Security data has it at 77th in the 1910s and 75th in the 1920s, its peak, when more than 36,000 American girls were named Vivian, then slipping out of the top 200 after the 1950s. It returned at 114th in the 2010s, with more than 27,000 girls, and Behind the Name puts it at 70th in the US in 2025. So there are Vivians in their 90s and in kindergarten.
A few more things about Vivian
The Lady of the Lake gave King Arthur his sword. Wikipedia says the Lady of the Lake, one of whose names is Vivian, provides Arthur with Excalibur, raises the knight Lancelot, and helps carry the dying Arthur to Avalon. Tennyson’s Idylls of the King spelled her Vivien, Wikipedia adds, which helped make that spelling feminine too.
Gift ideas with Vivian in mind
- For a photographer. Shot lists and photo notes, in honor of Vivian Maier.
- For a fantasy reader. Story ideas for a name from Arthurian legend.
- For a new baby. Vivian is back in the US top 100.
- For a birthday. A lively gift for a name that means alive.
A notebook for every Vivian
Vivian’s Notebook works just as well for a teenager as for a grandmother. It’s 6" x 9", which fits in most bags, with 160 lined pages and no printed layout to work around. Use it as a diary, a school notebook, a planner or a place to collect quotes and ideas. A name on the cover turns an everyday notebook into something personal.
Why choose a personalized notebook?
A plain notebook is useful. One with her name on it is a gift. Seeing “Vivian’s Notebook” on the cover tells Vivian it was chosen for her, not grabbed off a shelf, and that small touch is often what makes people keep a notebook going instead of abandoning it after a week.
Frequently asked questions
How big is Vivian’s Notebook? 6" x 9", or about 15.2 x 22.9 cm. It’s a paperback with 160 lined pages inside.
Where do I buy it? Vivian’s Notebook is available on Amazon, which prints each copy to order and looks after delivery and refunds.
Do you have other names? We do, hundreds of them. Browse all name notebooks or read how to find a name on our personalized name notebooks page.
See Vivian's Notebook on Amazon
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Vivian's Notebook is published by Black Stag Publishing.