Veira
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially Celtic or Old Portuguese.
Name Census estimates that about 49 living Americans carry the first name Veira. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Veira today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Veira births was 2019 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Veira. 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 Veira. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
49
~ 1 in 6,994,986 Americans
Peak year
2019
10 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,470
Tracked since 2016
Popularity
Veira: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Veira from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 26 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
Veira 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 Veira 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 Veira
The name Veira is of Portuguese origin and dates back to the late medieval period, around the 14th or 15th century. It is believed to have derived from the Latin word "verus," meaning "true" or "genuine." In Portuguese, the name is sometimes spelled "Vera" or "Veyra."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Veira can be found in a 16th-century manuscript from the Alentejo region of Portugal, where it was used as a feminine given name. This suggests that the name had gained some popularity in that region during the Renaissance period.
In the realm of religious references, there is a Saint Veira who was a 7th-century abbess in the Benedictine Order. She founded the Convent of Santa Maria de Veira in the Portuguese city of Évora, which still stands today as a historical landmark.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Veira. One of the earliest was Veira de Lemos (c. 1490-1555), a Portuguese navigator and explorer who accompanied Ferdinand Magellan on his famous voyage around the world.
Another notable figure was Veira Fernandes (1552-1623), a Portuguese painter and artist who was celebrated for his religious paintings and frescoes adorning several churches and monasteries in Portugal.
In the 18th century, Veira Antunes (1718-1793) was a prominent Portuguese physician and botanist who made significant contributions to the study of medicinal plants and their applications in treating various ailments.
Moving into the 19th century, Veira Madureira (1825-1891) was a Brazilian novelist and poet who was part of the Romantic literary movement in Brazil. Her works often explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition.
Finally, in the 20th century, Veira Ferraz (1917-2002) was a Brazilian architect and urban planner who played a pivotal role in the design and development of several modern cities in Brazil, including the planned city of Brasília.
While the name Veira has its roots in Portugal, it has been embraced and adopted in various other cultures and regions over the centuries, making it a name with a rich and diverse history.
People
Veira + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Veira 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
Veira: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Veira?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 49 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Veira 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 6,994,986 US residents.
Is Veira a common name?
We classify Veira as "Very Rare". It ranks above 54% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 49 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Veira most popular?
The single biggest year for Veira was 2019, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Veira is about 6 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 Veira in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Veira a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Veira 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 Veira still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Veira 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 Veira 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 have Veira as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Veira on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.