How Many People Are Named Valerie?
An estimated 225,722 people in the United States have the first name Valerie. While not in the top 50, it remains a well-known name ranking #233 overall. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 46 years old, and Valerie peaked in popularity in 1959 with 7,320 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Valerie as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Valerie paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Valerie is overwhelmingly female, 693 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
225,722
About 1 in 1,518 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Common
Predicted Gender
Female
99.7% confidence
Average Age
46
years old
Peak Year
1959
7,320 births
Total Registered
271,690
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Valerie
Valerie is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 271,690 total births registered, 99.7% were female.
Valerie as a male name
Ranked #11,391 in 2005
6 male births in 2005
Peak: 1980 (26 births)
Valerie as a female name
Ranked #147 in 2024
1,985 female births in 2024
Peak: 1959 (7,304 births)
Valerie: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Valerie span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1960s, when 56,738 babies were registered. Valerie has declined significantly from its peak in the 1960s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Valerie by Decade
How has Valerie tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 32 | 0 | 32 | |
| 1890s | 141 | 0 | 141 | |
| 1900s | 259 | 0 | 259 | |
| 1910s | 1,314 | 0 | 1,314 | |
| 1920s | 1,710 | 0 | 1,710 | |
| 1930s | 3,965 | 5 | 3,960 | |
| 1940s | 13,723 | 29 | 13,694 | |
| 1950s | 52,348 | 116 | 52,232 | |
| 1960s | 56,738 | 151 | 56,587 | |
| 1970s | 33,964 | 153 | 33,811 | |
| 1980s | 34,791 | 161 | 34,630 | |
| 1990s | 22,050 | 39 | 22,011 | |
| 2000s | 22,000 | 39 | 21,961 | |
| 2010s | 19,012 | 0 | 19,012 | |
| 2020s | 9,643 | 0 | 9,643 | |
Valerie by State
Birth registrations for Valerie span all 51 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, New York, Texas. The lowest are in Vermont, Wyoming, Alaska. On average, about 5,254 Valeries were registered per state.
Valerie + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Valerie as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Valerie
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
Valerie: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Valerie?
We estimate approximately 225,722 people named Valerie are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 1,518 Americans share this first name.
Is Valerie a common name?
Valerie is classified as "Common" and is more popular than 99.8% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 271,690 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Valerie most popular?
Valerie reached peak popularity in 1959, when 7,320 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Valerie is approximately 46 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Valerie a female name?
Valerie is predominantly female. 99.7% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Valerie Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Valerie Smith, Valerie Johnson, Valerie Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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