Vail
A modern feminine name derived from the town name of Vail, Colorado.
Name Census estimates that about 481 living Americans carry the first name Vail. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 79.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Vail today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vail births was 2018 (59 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vail. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
481
~ 1 in 712,587 Americans
Peak year
2018
59 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2022 SSA rank
#4,997
Tracked since 1915
Gender
Gender distribution for Vail
Vail is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 522 total registrations, 107 (20.5%) were male and 415 (79.5%) were female.
Vail as a male name
- Ranked #12,212 in 2022
- 6 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2020 (10 births)
Vail as a female name
- Ranked #4,997 in 2024
- 27 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (53 births)
Popularity
Vail: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vail from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 252 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Vail remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vail by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Vail during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vails live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Colorado recorded the most babies named Vail, while Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vail
The given name Vail is an English name of Old French origin, derived from the word "val" or "vale," meaning "valley." Its historical roots can be traced back to the late 12th century, particularly in regions of France and England, where it was used as a topographical surname for people living near valleys or low-lying areas.
During the Middle Ages, the name Vail was not widely recorded as a first name. However, it appeared sporadically in medieval records and literature, often as a surname or place name. One of the earliest documented instances of the name Vail was in the 13th century, when a family bearing the surname "de Vall" was mentioned in the Hundred Rolls of Oxfordshire, England.
The name gained more prominence in the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly among English Puritans who favored biblical and nature-inspired names. It was during this period that Vail began to be used more frequently as a first name, possibly influenced by its association with the biblical "valley of the shadow of death" from Psalm 23.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the first name Vail was Vail Wetherly, an English Puritan who lived in the late 16th century and was known for his religious writings. Another notable bearer of the name was Vail Bibbins, a 17th-century English colonist who settled in Virginia in the 1630s.
In the 18th century, the name Vail was particularly popular among Quakers and Puritans in the American colonies. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Vail Hobart (1721-1805), a prominent Quaker leader and abolitionist from Pennsylvania.
As the centuries progressed, the name Vail continued to be used, although it remained relatively uncommon. Notable individuals with this first name include Vail Bauserman (1888-1964), an American politician and lawyer from West Virginia, and Vail Pittman (1917-1997), a renowned American aviation pioneer and test pilot.
Despite its rarity, the name Vail has left a lasting impression in various fields, from politics and literature to aviation and religion. Its unique origins and connection to the natural world have undoubtedly contributed to its enduring appeal throughout history.
People
Vail + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vail as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Vail: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vail?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 481 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vail going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 712,587 US residents.
Is Vail a common name?
We classify Vail as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 522 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vail most popular?
The single biggest year for Vail was 2018, when 59 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vail is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Vail a female name?
Yes, 79.5% of people registered as Vail in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.