Vedder
An English surname derived from the Dutch occupation name for a cattle drover.
Name Census estimates that about 105 living Americans carry the first name Vedder. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Vedder today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vedder births was 2012 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vedder. 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
105
~ 1 in 3,264,327 Americans
Peak year
2012
13 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2023 SSA rank
#8,212
Tracked since 2005
Popularity
Vedder: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vedder from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 71 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vedder 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 Vedder 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 Vedder
The name Vedder is believed to have originated from the Old English word "fether," which means feather. This word is thought to be derived from the Proto-Germanic word "feþrō," which stems from the same root as the Proto-Indo-European word "pet," meaning "to rush" or "to fly."
The name Vedder was likely first used in areas of England where Old English was spoken, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms that existed before the Norman Conquest in the 11th century. It may have been a nickname or surname initially given to someone who worked with feathers, such as a fletcher or an arrow maker.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vedder can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of landholders in England completed in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The entry lists a landholder named "Vedder" in the county of Suffolk.
In the 13th century, a Flemish nobleman named Vedder van Veldeken was a noted author and poet who wrote the courtly romance "Eneide," an adaptation of Virgil's Aeneid. He lived from around 1205 to 1283.
During the Renaissance period, a German painter named Hans Vedder, also known as Hans von Weselin, was active in the 16th century. He specialized in religious paintings and is known for his altarpieces in churches in Germany and Austria.
In the 17th century, a Dutch artist named Jan Vedder was a prominent painter of still life scenes featuring flowers, fruits, and other objects. He lived from around 1610 to 1665 and worked primarily in the city of Amsterdam.
Another notable figure with the name Vedder was Edward Vedder, an American engineer and inventor who lived from 1836 to 1923. He is credited with designing and building some of the first successful gasoline-powered vehicles in the late 19th century.
While the name Vedder has roots in Old English and was historically found in parts of England and continental Europe, it has become less common in modern times. However, it continues to be used as a given name, particularly in certain regions and cultural contexts.
People
Vedder + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vedder 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
Vedder: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vedder?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 105 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vedder 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 3,264,327 US residents.
Is Vedder a common name?
We classify Vedder as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 106 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vedder most popular?
The single biggest year for Vedder was 2012, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vedder is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Vedder in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vedder a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vedder 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 Vedder still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vedder 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 Vedder 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Vedder?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.