Venus
The Roman goddess of beauty, love, and fertility.
Name Census estimates that about 7,965 living Americans carry the first name Venus. It is a predominantly female name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Venus today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Venus births was 1959 (295 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Venus. 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 Venus with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Venus is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 101 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
8.0K
~ 1 in 43,033 Americans
Peak year
1959
295 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,736
Tracked since 1887
Census
Venus in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,172 people with the first name Venus, which placed it at #2,831 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
#2,831
National first-name rank
People counted
8.2K
8,172 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
30.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Venus
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Venus is Black at 30.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.6%) and White (23.1%). 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 Venus 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 Venus at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American30.2% · 2,470
- Hispanic or Latino24.6% · 2,012
- White23.1% · 1,884
- Asian and Pacific Islander17.0% · 1,388
- Two or more races4.2% · 340
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 78
Gender
Gender distribution for Venus
Venus leans heavily female at 99.0% of total registrations, but 101 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Venus as a male name
- Ranked #14,071 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1920 (9 births)
Venus as a female name
- Ranked #1,736 in 2024
- 117 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1959 (295 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Venus leans strongly female. 7,989 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 183 male bearers (2.2%).
Popularity
Venus: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Venus from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 2,126 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Venus remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Venus 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 Venus during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Venus' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Venus, while Massachusetts, Alaska, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 192 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Venus
The name Venus originates from the Roman goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. It is derived from the Latin word 'venus', which means 'love' or 'loveliness'. The name can be traced back to ancient Roman mythology, where Venus was one of the most revered and celebrated deities.
Venus was the Roman counterpart of the Greek goddess Aphrodite. In Roman mythology, she was born from the sea foam and was considered the embodiment of feminine grace, charm, and desire. Her name was associated with the planet Venus, which was named after her due to its bright and radiant appearance in the night sky.
The name Venus appeared in various ancient Roman texts and writings, including the works of poets like Ovid and Virgil. It was also mentioned in religious scriptures and historical records, reflecting the importance of the goddess in the Roman pantheon.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Venus was Venus Verticordia, a Roman goddess associated with chastity and modesty. She had a temple dedicated to her in Rome, where women would offer prayers and sacrifices.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Venus. One of the most famous was Venus Willoughby (1598-1663), an English noblewoman and courtier during the reign of King Charles I. She was known for her beauty and wit, and was a prominent figure in the English court.
Another notable Venus was Venus de' Medici (c. 1490), a famous Renaissance sculpture depicting the goddess Venus. The sculpture, created by the Greek sculptor Praxiteles, is considered one of the finest examples of classical art and has been widely admired for its beauty and naturalism.
In more recent times, Venus Williams (born 1980) is a renowned American professional tennis player who has won numerous Grand Slam titles and Olympic gold medals. She is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time and has been a trailblazer for women's athletics.
Venus Raj (born 1988) is a Filipino model, television host, and beauty queen who won the Miss Universe Philippines title in 2010 and represented her country at the Miss Universe pageant.
Venus Lacy (1924-2015) was an American blues singer and songwriter who performed with various rhythm and blues bands in the 1940s and 1950s. She was known for her powerful vocals and contribution to the Chicago blues scene.
People
Venus + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Venus 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
Venus: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Venus?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,965 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Venus 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 43,033 US residents.
Is Venus a common name?
We classify Venus as "Rare". It ranks above 97.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,959 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Venus most popular?
The single biggest year for Venus was 1959, when 295 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Venus is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Venus in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,172 people with the name Venus, or 2.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,831 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 Venus 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 Venus?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Venus leans strongly female. 7,989 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 183 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Venus?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Venus is Black at 30.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (24.6%) and White (23.1%). 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 Venus most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Venus in the 2020 Census, accounting for 30.2% (2,470 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 Venus in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Venus a female name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Venus 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 Venus still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Venus 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 Venus 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 Americans are named Venus?
See how many Americans are named Venus on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.