Veleda
Germanic feminine given name of unknown meaning, perhaps derived from Germanic root meaning "ruler".
Name Census estimates that about 70 living Americans carry the first name Veleda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Veleda today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Veleda births was 1971 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Veleda. 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 Veleda. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
70
~ 1 in 4,896,491 Americans
Peak year
1971
10 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
1979 SSA rank
#11,913
Tracked since 1916
Census
Veleda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 143 people with the first name Veleda, which placed it at #46,519 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
#46,519
National first-name rank
People counted
143
143 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Veleda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Veleda is White at 48.3%. The next largest groups are Black (44.8%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Veleda 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 Veleda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.3% · 69
- Black or African American44.8% · 64
- Two or more races2.8% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 1
Popularity
Veleda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Veleda from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 54 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
Veleda 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 Veleda 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 Veleda
The given name Veleda has its origins in the ancient Germanic languages, particularly Old High German and Old Saxon. It likely derives from the Proto-Germanic root *wal- meaning "to rule" or "to govern." The name was prevalent among the Germanic tribes of central and western Europe during the early centuries of the Common Era.
One of the earliest and most notable historical references to the name Veleda comes from the writings of the Roman historian Tacitus. In his work "Historiae," Tacitus mentions a Germanic priestess and seer named Veleda who lived in the 1st century AD and held significant influence over the Batavian people during their revolt against the Roman Empire.
The name Veleda also appears in various Old High German and Old Saxon texts from the medieval period, indicating its continued use among the Germanic peoples throughout the Middle Ages. However, it is difficult to trace specific individuals bearing this name from those early times due to the scarcity of historical records.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Veleda was a German noblewoman who lived in the 11th century. She was the wife of Count Welf II of Altdorf and played a notable role in the founding of the Welf dynasty, which later became the House of Welf and ruled over various territories in modern-day Germany.
In the 16th century, a woman named Veleda von Vitzthum was a prominent figure in the court of the Electorate of Saxony. She served as a lady-in-waiting to the Electress Anna of Denmark and was known for her literary talents and patronage of the arts.
During the 17th century, Veleda Maria von Arnim was a German noblewoman and landowner who played a significant role in the development of the city of Berlin. She is credited with the construction of several buildings and the establishment of a charitable foundation that supported education and social welfare initiatives.
In the 19th century, Veleda Thorneycroft was a British artist and sculptor known for her allegorical works and portraits. She was a member of the Royal Academy of Arts and exhibited her works at prestigious venues such as the Royal Academy and the Paris Salon.
Another notable figure with the name Veleda was Veleda Riddiford, a New Zealand suffragist and women's rights activist who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She played a crucial role in the campaign for women's suffrage in New Zealand and was a founding member of various organizations that advocated for gender equality and social reform.
People
Veleda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Veleda 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
Veleda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Veleda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 70 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Veleda 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 4,896,491 US residents.
Is Veleda a common name?
We classify Veleda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 122 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Veleda most popular?
The single biggest year for Veleda was 1971, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Veleda is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Veleda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 143 people with the name Veleda, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,519 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 Veleda 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 Veleda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Veleda appears almost entirely female. Of the 139 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Veleda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Veleda is White at 48.3%. The next largest groups are Black (44.8%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Veleda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Veleda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.3% (69 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 Veleda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Veleda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Veleda 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 Veleda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Veleda 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 Veleda 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 are called Veleda?
You can see how many people share the name Veleda on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.