Aside from Vitas Gerulaitis and the dude on this season’s Survivor I can’t think of anybody else with that name.
Thus the anonymous poll which is on its way…
Well, I got a close miss here… There’s a guy who reports on the news for KNX 1070, a CBS radio affiliate in Los Angeles. His name sounds like Vitas, but is actually “Vytas.” Vytas Safronikas. Cool name!
All right! I suspect that spelling may be as common as the one for Gerulaitis and I do imagine it’s a Greek name. I can’t remember how the Survivor guy spells his.
I finally broke down and checked out Aras and Vytas. Sure enough: Greek name. Surname: Baskauskas
Other—I don’t know anyone by that name, but I took a class in Lithuanian, so in general I’m familiar with Lithuanian names, including Vitas. My favorite Lithuanian name is Birutė.
Not only have I never heard of any others, I’ve never heard of the two you mentioned.
There is the singer, Vitas, but his full name is Vitaliy Vladasovich Grachov. I have never encountered it anywhere else.
Based on the first and last name, I would guess Lithuanian. I can’t say I’ve ever seen “Vitas,” but I’ve seen “Vitus.” I wonder if it’s a form of the name “Vitalijus,” another name I’ve seen in the Lithuanian community.
According the this, it does appear Vitas shows up as a Lithuanian first name.
I assumed Lithuanian, too, but I guess Greek is right (for the Survivor guy).
My immediate guess was this.
Nope, Gerulaitis is a Lithuanian name too. The ending -*aitis *is very common in Lithuanian surnames. The name Vitas comes from Latin originally (Vitus meaning ‘alive’; the masculine singular ending -as in Lithuanian is the equivalent of 2nd declension -us in Latin). However, the name Vytautas is pure Lithuanian.
The only Vitas I am familiar with play video games.
I went with “never heard,” but almost went with “heard if it,” because of Arvitas (sp?) Sabonis, the great Lithuanian basketball player of the 1980s and early 1990s.
Yes, I thought of Saint Vitus too.
Behind the Name says it’s a Roman name from the Latin word for life. In antiquity, it was frequently confused with the Germanic Wido. There’s also a feminine form, Vita or Vida.
In addition to the Eastern European variants, Vitus is the ancestor of the relatively common modern Italian or Spanish name, Vito.
See also:
The man who owned the cabin next door to us many years ago was named Vitus. No idea the last name. I used to play with his daughter, Vida.
Thanks for my first and so far only exposure to Lithuanian names. I had just assumed Greek from the looks of the name and my limited familiarity with the other Eastern European cultures and names.
I honestly didn’t even think to connect St. Vitus with it. Spelling and not sound was mainly why.
I’ve often wondered why it’s so easy to disguise unfamiliar words and names with offbeat spellings. My favorite of those is how the kid named OZ (somebody) explained that his name was Henri Xavier.
Thanks for the help with Vitas/Vytas. I feel better informed.
Not long ago in another thread somebody linked to a map of the US (or North America) that had the prevalent European connections to non-English and non-Native American cultures in the various states. First off, I was amazed at the German influence, and second I was startled at how many of these European ethnic groups I just don’t remember having any contact with at all. That could help explain my lack of recognition of a Lithuanian name.
Thanks, all! 
These are some excellent sources! Thanks for posting them.
A man named Vitas Memenas (sp?) was the Joliet Il, police chaplain and a parish priest in the Joliet Diocese.
http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/news/5227153-418/reverends-move-may-signal-city-changes.html
O.k., he spelled it Vytas.
I knew a Vitaly but that is a close as it gets.