Valdis
A feminine Latvian name derived from "valdītājs" meaning "ruler, lord".
Name Census estimates that about 69 living Americans carry the first name Valdis. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Valdis today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Valdis births was 1971 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Valdis. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Valdis. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
69
~ 1 in 4,967,454 Americans
Peak year
1971
13 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
1978 SSA rank
#6,715
Tracked since 1952
Census
Valdis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 265 people with the first name Valdis, which placed it at #32,010 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#32,010
National first-name rank
People counted
265
265 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Valdis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Valdis is White at 76.2%. The next largest groups are Black (14.7%) and Hispanic (4.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Valdis described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Valdis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.2% · 202
- Black or African American14.7% · 39
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 12
- Two or more races1.9% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 3
Popularity
Valdis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Valdis from the 1950s through to the 1970s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 40 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Valdis 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 Valdis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Valdis
The name Valdis originates from Latvia, a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is a masculine given name derived from the Old Prussian word "waldis," meaning "ruler" or "sovereign." The name has its roots in the ancient Balto-Slavic language family, which dates back to the 3rd century BCE.
The earliest recorded use of the name Valdis can be traced back to the 13th century, during the period of the Northern Crusades. It was a popular name among the noble families of the Baltic region, particularly in Latvia and Lithuania. In the 14th century, Valdis was mentioned in the Livonian Chronicle, a historical record of the Livonian Confederation, which governed parts of modern-day Estonia and Latvia.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Valdis was Valdis Grube, a Latvian military commander who fought against the Teutonic Knights in the 14th century. He is celebrated as a hero in Latvian folklore for his bravery and leadership during the Baltic Crusades.
In the 16th century, Valdis Cakars was a prominent Latvian humanist, scholar, and poet. His works played a significant role in the development of Latvian literature and the preservation of the Latvian language during the Reformation period.
Another notable figure with the name Valdis was Valdis Zatlers, a Latvian politician who served as the President of Latvia from 2007 to 2011. He was born in 1955 and played a crucial role in Latvia's transition to democracy after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Valdis Dombrovskis, born in 1971, is a Latvian politician who has served as the European Commissioner for Trade and as the Vice-President of the European Commission. He is considered one of the most influential Latvians on the international political stage.
Valdis Muižnieks, born in 1964, is a Latvian human rights activist and academic. He served as the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe from 2012 to 2018, advocating for the protection of human rights and democracy across Europe.
While the name Valdis is predominantly found in Latvia and the Baltic region, it has also gained recognition in other parts of the world due to the influence of Latvian culture and the diaspora. Throughout its history, the name Valdis has been associated with strength, leadership, and sovereignty, reflecting the rich cultural heritage of the Baltic region.
People
Valdis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Valdis 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
Valdis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Valdis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 69 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Valdis 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 4,967,454 US residents.
Is Valdis a common name?
We classify Valdis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 82 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Valdis most popular?
The single biggest year for Valdis was 1971, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Valdis is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Valdis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 265 people with the name Valdis, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,010 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Valdis in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Valdis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Valdis leans strongly male. 249 people counted with this name were male (94.0%), compared with 16 female bearers (6.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Valdis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Valdis is White at 76.2%. The next largest groups are Black (14.7%) and Hispanic (4.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Valdis most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Valdis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.2% (202 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Valdis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Valdis a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Valdis in the SSA data are male. 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.
Is Valdis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Valdis in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Valdis can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many Americans are named Valdis?
See how many people share the name Valdis on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.