Vanderlei
A Portuguese masculine name meaning "leader of people".
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Vanderlei. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Vanderlei today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vanderlei births was 2012 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vanderlei. 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 Vanderlei. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
2012
6 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2012 SSA rank
#12,183
Tracked since 2009
Census
Vanderlei in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 168 people with the first name Vanderlei, which placed it at #42,627 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
#42,627
National first-name rank
People counted
168
168 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vanderlei
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vanderlei is White at 78.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.9%) and Black (6.5%). 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 Vanderlei 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 Vanderlei at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.6% · 132
- Hispanic or Latino8.9% · 15
- Black or African American6.5% · 11
- Two or more races3.6% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 4
Popularity
Vanderlei: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vanderlei from the 2000s through to the 2010s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 6 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
Vanderlei 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 Vanderlei 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 Vanderlei
The name Vanderlei has its origins in the Dutch language and culture. It is a compound name derived from the elements "vander" meaning "from the" and "lei" meaning "meadow" or "pasture". This suggests that the name likely originated among Dutch communities where occupations or locations were commonly used as surnames or given names.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vanderlei can be traced back to the 16th century in the Netherlands. It was during this time period that Dutch explorers and settlers began spreading throughout various parts of the world, potentially carrying the name with them.
While the name Vanderlei does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it may have been influenced by similar Dutch names that were more prevalent during its early usage.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Vanderlei was Vanderlei Eysinga, a Dutch mathematician and astronomer who lived from 1633 to 1712. He made significant contributions to the field of optics and was a member of the Royal Society of London.
Another historical figure with this name was Vanderlei Klok, a Dutch naval officer and explorer who served in the Dutch East Indies during the 17th century. He was involved in several expeditions and played a role in the colonization efforts of the Dutch East India Company.
In the 19th century, Vanderlei van der Grinten was a notable Dutch painter and etcher. Born in 1827, he was known for his landscapes and city scenes depicting various locations in the Netherlands.
Vanderlei Luxemburgo, born in 1952, is a Brazilian football manager and former player. He has had a successful career coaching several Brazilian clubs and the national team.
Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, a Brazilian long-distance runner, gained international recognition for his performance in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. Born in 1969, he was famously attacked by a spectator during the marathon event but still managed to finish the race and win a bronze medal.
People
Vanderlei + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vanderlei 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
Vanderlei: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vanderlei?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vanderlei 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Vanderlei a common name?
We classify Vanderlei as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vanderlei most popular?
The single biggest year for Vanderlei was 2012, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vanderlei is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vanderlei in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 168 people with the name Vanderlei, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,627 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 Vanderlei 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 Vanderlei?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vanderlei leans strongly male. 166 people counted with this name were male (97.6%), compared with 4 female bearers (2.4%). 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 Vanderlei?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vanderlei is White at 78.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.9%) and Black (6.5%). 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 Vanderlei most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Vanderlei in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.6% (132 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 Vanderlei in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vanderlei a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vanderlei 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 Vanderlei still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vanderlei 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 Vanderlei 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 Vanderlei?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.