Viola (given name)

Viola

File:Orsino and viola Frederick Richard Pickersgill.jpg Orsino and Viola in a scene from William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night by Frederick Richard Pickersgill.
Pronunciation	/ˈvaɪələ/ VY-ə-lə, /ˈvaɪoʊlə/ VY-oh-lə
Gender	Female
Origin
Word/name	Latin
Meaning	"violet"
Other names
Related names	Violet Violetta Violeta

Viola is a feminine given name derived from the Latin viola, given in reference to the flowering plant species. The name is in common use in Italy. In Greece as Violeta. It is best known in the Anglosphere as a character in William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

Academics

• Viola Birss, Canadian professor of chemistry
• Viola Garfield (1899–1983), American anthropologist
• Viola Shelly Shantz (1895–1977), American biologist and zoologist

Activists

• Viola Desmond (1914–1965), African-Nova Scotian civil rights figure
• Viola Fletcher (1914–2025), American civil rights activist
• Viola Hashe (1926–1977), South African anti-apartheid activist
• Viola Hill (1892–1954), American suffragist and music director
• Viola Liuzzo (1925–1965), Unitarian Universalist civil rights activist
• Viola Pitts (1914–2004), Fort Worth community activist

Aristocrats

• Viola, Duchess of Opole, 13th-century Bulgarian-Polish noble
• Viola Elisabeth of Cieszyn, Queen of Bohemia and Poland
• Viola Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster, widow of Robert Grosvenor, 5th Duke of Westminster

Athletes

• Viola Bauer (born 1976), German cross-country skier
• Viola Cheptoo Lagat (born 1989), Kenyan middle-distance runner
• Viola Goretzki (born 1956), German rower
• Viola Grahl (born 1966), German former field hockey player
• Violah Jepchumba (born 1990), Kenyan long-distance runner
• Viola Kibiwot (born 1983), Kenyan distance runner
• Viola Myers (1927–1993), Canadian athlete
• Viola Odebrecht (born 1983), German footballer
• Viola Poley (born 1955), German rower
• Viola Thomas (born 1939), Canadian barrel rolling champion
• Viola Thompson (1922–2017), American professional baseball player
• Viola Valli (born 1972), Italian long distance swimmer
• Viola Yanik (born 1982), Canadian wrestler

Performers

• Viola Allen (1867–1948), American stage actress
• Viola Barry (1894–1964), American silent film actress
• Viola Compton (1886–1971), British film actress
• Viola Dana (1897–1987), American silent film actress
• Viola Davis (born 1965), American actress
• Viola Farber (1931–1998), American choreographer and dancer
• Viola Gillette (1871–1956), American contralto
• Viola Harris (1920–2017), American actress
• Viola Keats (1911–1998), British film and television actress
• Viola Lyel (1896–1972), British film and television actress
• Viola Léger, (1930–2023), Acadian-Canadian actress and former Canadian Senator
• Viola McCoy (c. 1900–c. 1956), African-American blues singer
• Viola Richard (1904–1973), American silent film actress
• Viola Roache (1885–1961), American actress
• Viola Smith (1912–2020), American drummer
• Viola Tunnard (1916–1974), English pianist
• Viola Valentino (born 1949), Italian singer
• Viola Wills (1939–2009), American pop singer

Politicians and administrators

• Viola Baskerville (born 1951), Secretary of Administration in the Cabinet of Virginia Governor Tim Kaine
• Viola Jimulla (1878–1966), Chief of the Prescott Yavapai tribe
• Viola B. Sanders (1921–2013), director of Women in the Navy

Writers

• Viola Bayley (1911–1997), British children's writer
• Viola Canales (born 1957), American writer
• Viola Fischerová (1935–2010), Czech poet and translator
• Viola Florence Barnes (1885–1979), American historian and author
• Viola Garvin (1898–1969), English poet and editor
• Viola Meynell (1885–1956), English writer, novelist and poet
• Viola Roseboro' (1857–1945), American editor and novelist
• Viola S. Wendt (1907–1986), American poet and educator

Others

• Viola June Cobb (1927–2015), American informant for the CIA
• Viola Frey (1933–2004), American ceramics artist
• Viola Gentry (1894–1988), American aviator
• Viola Haqi (born 1975), Dutch fashion model
• Viola Klaiss (1891–1978), American organist
• Viola R. MacMillan (1903–1993), Canadian authority on mining
• Viola Slaughter (1860–1941), Arizona rancher and the wife of sheriff John Slaughter
• Viola Spolin (1906–1994), American director and teacher

Fictional characters

• Viola, a character from Eternal Sonata
• Viola (Kiddy Grade), in the Japanese anime television series Kiddy Grade
• Viola (She's the Man), a character in the American film She's the Man
• Viola (TimeSplitters), a character in the English video game series TimeSplitters
• Viola (Twelfth Night), a character in William Shakespeare's play Twelfth Night
• Viola (Zone of the Enders), a character in the Japanese video game series Zone of the Enders
• Viola, a character from Bayonetta 3
• Viola, a character from Valkyrie Drive- Bhikkhuni
• Viola de Lesseps, heroine of the film Shakespeare in Love
• Viola, a Gym Leader in Pokémon series
• Viola, one of Jake's five children from Adventure Time
• Viola, a character from the anime and manga series One Piece
• Viola, a character from the RPG horror game The Witch's House
• Viola, a character from the series "The Knife of Never Letting Go"
• Viola, a character from the movie "Chaos Walking"

See also

• Viola (surname)
• Violette (given name), a female given name
• Violetta (given name), a female given name
• Violeta (given name), a female given name
• Violet (given name), a female given name
• Viorica, a female given name