Valinda
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly meaning "to protect".
Name Census estimates that about 1,036 living Americans carry the first name Valinda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Valinda today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Valinda births was 1954 (136 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Valinda. 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
1.0K
~ 1 in 330,844 Americans
Peak year
1954
136 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
1997 SSA rank
#16,056
Tracked since 1942
Popularity
Valinda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Valinda from the 1940s through to the 1990s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 557 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Valinda 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 Valinda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Valindas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. California, North Carolina, Texas recorded the most babies named Valinda, while Indiana, Alabama, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Valinda
The name Valinda has its origins in the ancient Sanskrit language, tracing back to India around the 5th century BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "valinda," which means "a creeper" or "a climbing plant." This name was likely given to children with the hope that they would grow strong and resilient, much like a hardy vine that spreads and flourishes.
In ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, the name Valinda is mentioned as a character in the epic Mahabharata, one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India. This reference suggests that the name was in use during the time when these ancient texts were composed, potentially around the 4th century BCE to the 4th century CE.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Valinda was Valinda of Amalfi, an Italian noblewoman who lived in the 9th century CE. She was a prominent figure in the maritime Republic of Amalfi, an important trading hub during the Middle Ages.
Another notable bearer of the name was Valinda of Toulouse, a 12th-century noblewoman from the city of Toulouse in present-day France. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of the Cathars, a Christian religious movement that was eventually deemed heretical by the Catholic Church.
In the 16th century, there was Valinda Gomes, a Portuguese explorer and navigator who accompanied Ferdinand Magellan on his famous voyage around the world. Gomes played a crucial role in navigating the treacherous Strait of Magellan and was one of the few survivors of the expedition.
During the Renaissance period, Valinda Sforza was an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts. She was a member of the powerful Sforza family that ruled the Duchy of Milan, and her patronage helped nurture the flourishing of arts and culture in the region.
In the 19th century, Valinda Borg was a Swedish painter and illustrator known for her portraiture and landscape paintings. She was one of the few female artists of her time to achieve recognition and acclaim in the male-dominated art world of that era.
People
Valinda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Valinda 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
Valinda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Valinda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,036 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Valinda 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 330,844 US residents.
Is Valinda a common name?
We classify Valinda as "Rare". It ranks above 90.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,363 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Valinda most popular?
The single biggest year for Valinda was 1954, when 136 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Valinda is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Valinda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Valinda 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.