Velmer
A diminutive form of the Germanic name Velimir, meaning "great peace".
Name Census estimates that about 31 living Americans carry the first name Velmer. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 53.7% of registrations being female. The average person named Velmer today is around 87 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Velmer births was 1919 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Velmer. 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
- • The typical person named Velmer is about 87 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Velmers were born before 1949.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Velmer. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
31
~ 1 in 11,056,592 Americans
Peak year
1919
25 babies that year
Average age
87
years old
1948 SSA rank
#4,166
Tracked since 1902
Census
Velmer in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 120 people with the first name Velmer, which placed it at #50,338 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
#50,338
National first-name rank
People counted
120
120 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 Velmer
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Velmer is White at 48.3%. The next largest groups are Black (40.0%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Velmer 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 Velmer at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.3% · 58
- Black or African American40.0% · 48
- Two or more races5.8% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Velmer
Velmer is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 410 total registrations, 190 (46.3%) were male and 220 (53.7%) were female.
Velmer as a male name
- Ranked #4,166 in 1948
- 5 male births in 1948
- Peak: 1919 (13 births)
Velmer as a female name
- Ranked #4,661 in 1943
- 6 female births in 1943
- Peak: 1925 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Velmer on both sides of the split. Of the 119 people counted with this name, 69 were male (58.0%) and 50 were female (42.0%).
Popularity
Velmer: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Velmer from the 1900s through to the 1940s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 157 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Velmer 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 Velmer 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 Velmer
The name Velmer is believed to have originated from the Old Germanic language, with its roots dating back to the 5th century AD. It is thought to be derived from the words "vel," meaning "well," and "meri," meaning "famous" or "renowned." This suggests that the name may have originally been used to describe someone who was well-known or had a good reputation within their community.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Velmer can be found in the Frankish chronicles of the 6th century, where it is mentioned as the name of a warrior who fought alongside the Merovingian king Clovis I. This provides evidence that the name was in use among the Frankish tribes during the early medieval period.
In the 9th century, a monk named Velmer is mentioned in the annals of the Benedictine monastery of St. Gall, located in present-day Switzerland. This indicates that the name had spread from its Germanic roots and was being used within the Christian monastic tradition at that time.
During the Middle Ages, the name Velmer was relatively uncommon but can be found in various historical records across Europe. One notable figure who bore this name was Velmer von Augsburg, a German nobleman and military commander who lived in the 12th century and played a role in the conflicts between the Holy Roman Empire and the Italian city-states.
In the 15th century, a Dutch painter named Velmer van der Weyden was active in the city of Leuven. While not a major figure in the history of art, his works provide an example of the name's use in the Low Countries during the Renaissance period.
Another notable individual with the name Velmer was a German astronomer and mathematician who lived in the 16th century. Velmer Reinhold was born in Saalfeld in 1511 and made significant contributions to the study of planetary motion, working alongside notable figures such as Nicolaus Copernicus and Tycho Brahe.
While the name Velmer has never been widespread, it has persisted throughout history in various regions of Europe, particularly in Germanic and Dutch-speaking areas. Its origins and meaning reflect the cultural values of the ancient Germanic tribes, emphasizing the importance of reputation and renown within their societies.
People
Velmer + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Velmer 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
Velmer: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Velmer?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 31 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Velmer 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 11,056,592 US residents.
Is Velmer a common name?
We classify Velmer as "Very Rare". It ranks above 47% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 410 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Velmer most popular?
The single biggest year for Velmer was 1919, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Velmer is about 87 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Velmer in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 120 people with the name Velmer, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #50,338 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 Velmer 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 Velmer?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Velmer on both sides of the split. Of the 119 people counted with this name, 69 were male (58.0%) and 50 were female (42.0%). 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 Velmer?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Velmer is White at 48.3%. The next largest groups are Black (40.0%) and Two or More Races (5.8%). 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 Velmer most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Velmer in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.3% (58 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 Velmer in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Velmer a female name?
Yes, 53.7% of people registered as Velmer 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 Velmer still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Velmer 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 Velmer 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 Velmer?
Want to know how many people have the name Velmer? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.