Vera
A feminine name of Russian origin meaning "faith" or "truth".
Name Census estimates that about 42,994 living Americans carry the first name Vera. It sits at #226 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Vera today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vera births was 1918 (3,934 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vera. 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 Vera with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Vera is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 398 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
43K
~ 1 in 7,972 Americans
Peak year
1918
3,934 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
1963 SSA rank
#226
Tracked since 1880
Census
Vera in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 55,793 people with the first name Vera, which placed it at #835 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
#835
National first-name rank
People counted
56K
55,793 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
18.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vera
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vera is White at 66.7%. The next largest groups are Black (19.8%) and Hispanic (6.8%). 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 Vera 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 Vera at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.7% · 37,216
- Black or African American19.8% · 11,051
- Hispanic or Latino6.8% · 3,773
- Two or more races3.0% · 1,692
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 1,536
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 525
Gender
Gender distribution for Vera
Out of the 148,368 babies given the name Vera since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Vera as a male name
- Ranked #4,590 in 1963
- 5 male births in 1963
- Peak: 1928 (21 births)
Vera as a female name
- Ranked #226 in 2024
- 1,351 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1918 (3,923 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vera appears almost entirely female. Of the 55,795 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Vera: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vera from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 32,663 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
Vera 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 Vera during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Veras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Vera, while Hawaii, Nevada, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,474 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vera
The name Vera has its origins in the Latin language, derived from the word "verus," which means "true" or "faithful." It emerged during the Roman era and was initially used as a feminine form of the masculine name Verus.
In ancient Roman times, Vera was a relatively uncommon name, but it gained popularity during the early Christian period. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the third-century Roman martyrology, where a saint named Vera is mentioned.
During the Middle Ages, the name Vera spread throughout Europe, particularly in regions influenced by the Roman Catholic Church. It was adopted by various cultures and underwent slight variations in spelling and pronunciation, such as Veria, Vere, and Veerle.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Vera was Vera of Toul, a fifth-century Frankish noblewoman and saint. She is believed to have lived in present-day France and is venerated in the Catholic Church.
In the ninth century, Vera Empress, also known as Vera-Yvonne, was a Byzantine Empress consort who ruled alongside her husband, Emperor Leo VI the Wise. She played a significant role in the governance of the Byzantine Empire.
During the Renaissance period, the name Vera gained further popularity, particularly in Italy and other parts of Europe. A notable figure from this era was Vera Zaitseva (1608-1677), a Russian noblewoman and landowner known for her philanthropic efforts.
In the 19th century, Vera Mukhina (1889-1953) was a renowned Russian sculptor celebrated for her monumental works, including the iconic "Worker and Kolkhoz Woman" statue.
Another prominent figure with the name Vera was Vera Brittain (1893-1970), an English writer, feminist, and pacifist. She is best known for her memoir "Testament of Youth," which recounts her experiences during World War I.
In the 20th century, Vera Lynn (1917-2020) was a beloved British singer, known as the "Forces' Sweetheart" for her popular wartime songs that boosted morale during World War II.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Vera, a name with a rich heritage and a connection to the virtues of truth and faithfulness.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Vera
People
Vera + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vera 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
Vera: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vera?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 42,994 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vera 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 7,972 US residents.
Is Vera a common name?
We classify Vera as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 148,368 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vera most popular?
The single biggest year for Vera was 1918, when 3,934 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vera is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vera in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 55,793 people with the name Vera, or 18.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #835 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 Vera 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 Vera?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vera appears almost entirely female. Of the 55,795 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Vera?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vera is White at 66.7%. The next largest groups are Black (19.8%) and Hispanic (6.8%). 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 Vera most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Vera in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.7% (37,216 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 Vera in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vera a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Vera 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 Vera still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vera 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 Vera 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 have the name Vera?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.