Valois
A French masculine given name derived from the name of a region and county.
Name Census estimates that about 7 living Americans carry the first name Valois. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Valois today is around 93 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Valois births was 1928 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Valois. 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
- • The typical person named Valois is about 93 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Valois' were born before 1943.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Valois. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
7
~ 1 in 48,964,905 Americans
Peak year
1928
8 babies that year
Average age
93
years old
1943 SSA rank
#5,330
Tracked since 1917
Census
Valois in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 141 people with the first name Valois, which placed it at #46,868 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
#46,868
National first-name rank
People counted
141
141 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
48.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Valois
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Valois is Hispanic at 48.2%. The next largest groups are White (39.0%) and Black (10.6%). 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 Valois 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 Valois at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino48.2% · 68
- White39.0% · 55
- Black or African American10.6% · 15
- Two or more races1.4% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1
Popularity
Valois: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Valois from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 25 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Valois remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Valois 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 Valois 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 Valois
The name Valois has its origins in the French language and culture, originating in the late Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French words "val" and "ois," meaning "valley" and "belonging to," respectively. The name is closely associated with the House of Valois, a renowned French royal dynasty that ruled from 1328 to 1589.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Valois can be found in historical records from the 14th century, when the House of Valois rose to power in France. The dynasty's founder, Philip VI, was the first monarch of the Valois line, ascending to the throne in 1328.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Valois. One of the most famous was Charles V of France (1337-1380), also known as Charles the Wise, who reigned from 1364 to 1380 and played a crucial role in rebuilding France after the Hundred Years' War. Another prominent figure was Francis I of France (1494-1547), the Renaissance monarch who patronized the arts and initiated the French Renaissance.
In the realm of literature, the name Valois appears in the works of renowned writers such as Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas. Hugo's novel "Notre-Dame de Paris" (1831) features a character named Claude Frollo, who holds the title of "Archdeacon of Valois."
Beyond France, the name Valois also had a presence in other European countries. For example, in the 16th century, there was a Swedish noble named Erik Valois (1537-1595), who served as a military commander and governor.
It is worth noting that while the name Valois has a rich historical background, its usage as a first name has been relatively rare in modern times. However, its association with the illustrious French royal dynasty and its cultural significance in literature and history have solidified its place in the annals of onomastic heritage.
People
Valois + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Valois 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
Valois: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Valois?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Valois 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 48,964,905 US residents.
Is Valois a common name?
We classify Valois as "Very Rare". It ranks above 23.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 60 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Valois most popular?
The single biggest year for Valois was 1928, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Valois is about 93 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Valois in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 141 people with the name Valois, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,868 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 Valois 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 Valois?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Valois on both sides of the split. Of the 135 people counted with this name, 67 were male (49.6%) and 68 were female (50.4%). 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 Valois?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Valois is Hispanic at 48.2%. The next largest groups are White (39.0%) and Black (10.6%). 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 Valois most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Valois in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.2% (68 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 Valois in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Valois a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Valois 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.
Is Valois still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Valois 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 Valois 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 people share the name Valois?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.