[5] The spelling Vivien is the French masculine form, but in English speaking countries it has long been used as a feminine form, due to its appearance as the name of the Arthurian Lady of the Lake in Tennyson's Idylls of the King of 1859.
The Gaelic name Ninian has sometimes been identified as a corruption of Vivian, but it is now considered more likely derived from Welsh Nynniaw, which is itself of uncertain origin, but likely renders Nennius.
Bébinn is an unrelated, genuinely Gaelic name which has on occasion been rendered as Vivian in English.
The given name Vivian was introduced to Norman England in the 11th or 12th century and over time gave rise to a variety of British surnames, including Videan, Vidgen, Vidgeon, Fiddian, Fidgeon, Phythian, and Phethean.
Baron Vivian was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1841. Notable bearers of the surname include: The spelling of these names may differ depending on tradition.