Vayda
A feminine name derived from the Old Norse name Veiða meaning "hunting" or "huntress".
Name Census estimates that about 2,719 living Americans carry the first name Vayda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Vayda today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vayda births was 2021 (235 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vayda. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Vayda with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Vayda is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.7K
~ 1 in 126,059 Americans
Peak year
2021
235 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,370
Tracked since 1993
Census
Vayda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,611 people with the first name Vayda, which placed it at #8,858 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
#8,858
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,611 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vayda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vayda is White at 76.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.8%) and Two or More Races (7.1%). 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 Vayda 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 Vayda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.4% · 1,230
- Hispanic or Latino12.8% · 207
- Two or more races7.1% · 114
- Black or African American2.1% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 13
Popularity
Vayda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vayda from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,460 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Vayda remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vayda 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 Vayda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vaydas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 29 states and territories. Michigan, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Vayda, while South Carolina, Nebraska, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 58 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vayda
The name Vayda has its origins in the Slavic languages, particularly in the Serbian and Croatian tongues. It is derived from the Slavic root word "vaj," which means "woe" or "lament." The name likely emerged during the medieval period in the Balkan region, where these languages were widely spoken.
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled as "Vajda" or "Vojda," and it was often bestowed upon children born into families experiencing hardship or sorrow. The name carried a sense of resilience and strength, symbolizing the ability to overcome adversity and lament.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vayda can be traced back to the 14th century, when a Croatian noblewoman named Vayda Frankopan was mentioned in historical documents. She was a prominent figure in the region and played a significant role in the political and social affairs of her time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Vayda, though its popularity has waxed and waned across different eras and regions. In the 16th century, Vayda Dimitrović, a Serbian philosopher and theologian, made significant contributions to the intellectual discourse of the time.
In the realm of arts and literature, Vayda Przybylska, a Polish painter and sculptor born in 1837, gained recognition for her works that captured the essence of rural life in her homeland. Her contemporaries praised her ability to convey emotion and depth through her art.
Moving into the 20th century, Vayda Indritz, an American author and journalist born in 1914, chronicled the lives of immigrants and their struggles in her writing. Her works shed light on the experiences of those seeking a better life in the United States.
Lastly, Vayda Coutan, a French-Canadian actress born in 1956, made her mark on the stage and screen, captivating audiences with her versatile performances and commanding presence.
While the name Vayda has undergone various spellings and adaptations across different cultures and time periods, its essence remains rooted in the Slavic heritage, carrying a sense of perseverance and strength in the face of adversity.
People
Vayda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vayda 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
Vayda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vayda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,719 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vayda 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 126,059 US residents.
Is Vayda a common name?
We classify Vayda as "Rare". It ranks above 94.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,739 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vayda most popular?
The single biggest year for Vayda was 2021, when 235 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vayda is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vayda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,611 people with the name Vayda, or 0.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,858 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 Vayda 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 Vayda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vayda appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,602 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Vayda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vayda is White at 76.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.8%) and Two or More Races (7.1%). 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 Vayda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Vayda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.4% (1,230 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 Vayda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vayda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vayda 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 Vayda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vayda 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 Vayda 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 common is the name Vayda?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Vayda at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.