It orbits the Sun in the outer main-belt at a distance of 2.7–3.6 AU once every 5 years and 7 months (2,035 days).

[11] In March 2006, a rotational lightcurve of Vivian was obtained by American astronomer Lawrence Molnar at the Calvin–Rehoboth Observatory in New Mexico.

[4][5][6] The Collaborative Asteroid Lightcurve Link assumes an albedo of 0.08 and calculates a diameter of 25.82 kilometers with an absolute magnitude of 11.3.

Hirst calculated the preliminary orbit for this and several other minor planets discovered by Ernest Johnson.

[2] The official naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 1 January 1974 (M.P.C.