Verdie
A name of French origin meaning "green" or "verdant".
Name Census estimates that about 358 living Americans carry the first name Verdie. It is a predominantly female name (92.7% of registrations). The average person named Verdie today is around 80 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Verdie births was 1918 (87 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Verdie. 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 Verdie is about 80 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Verdies were born before 1956.
People living today
358
~ 1 in 957,414 Americans
Peak year
1918
87 babies that year
Average age
80
years old
1959 SSA rank
#4,544
Tracked since 1880
Census
Verdie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 563 people with the first name Verdie, which placed it at #18,985 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
#18,985
National first-name rank
People counted
563
563 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Verdie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Verdie is White at 47.8%. The next largest groups are Black (46.0%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.3%). 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 Verdie 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 Verdie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.8% · 269
- Black or African American46.0% · 259
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 11
- Two or more races2.0% · 11
Gender
Gender distribution for Verdie
Verdie leans heavily female at 92.7% of total registrations, but 206 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Verdie as a male name
- Ranked #4,544 in 1959
- 5 male births in 1959
- Peak: 1920 (11 births)
Verdie as a female name
- Ranked #8,248 in 1972
- 6 female births in 1972
- Peak: 1918 (79 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Verdie leans strongly female. 491 people counted with this name were female (86.0%), compared with 80 male bearers (14.0%).
Popularity
Verdie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Verdie from the 1880s through to the 1970s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 668 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
Verdie 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 Verdie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Verdies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Texas, Louisiana, Georgia recorded the most babies named Verdie, while Florida, Alabama, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 74 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Verdie
The name Verdie is believed to have originated from the French language, specifically the word "vert," which means "green." This connection suggests that the name may have initially been used as a descriptive name for someone with green eyes or a fondness for the color green.
In its earliest recorded use, Verdie was predominantly found in regions of France and other areas where French culture and language had a strong influence. It is likely that the name emerged during the Middle Ages or early Renaissance period, when descriptive names were commonly used to identify individuals based on their physical characteristics or personal traits.
While there are no known significant historical references to the name Verdie in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it has been documented in various historical records and documents from the 16th century onwards. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Verdie can be found in the birth records of a small village in the Normandy region of France, dating back to the late 1500s.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Verdie. One such person was Verdie Eugène Byar (1860-1932), a French painter and artist known for his landscapes and portraits. Another prominent figure was Verdie Mae Trotter (1905-1995), an American educator and civil rights activist who played a crucial role in desegregating schools in the state of Virginia.
In the literary world, Verdie Merrill (1874-1952) was an American author and poet who wrote several books, including "The Argosy of Dreams" and "The Bride of the Wind." Additionally, Verdie Alma Lewis (1927-2004) was an abstract expressionist painter from the United States, whose works are featured in renowned museums such as the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Another noteworthy individual with the name Verdie was Verdie Mae Muggins (1918-2003), a Native American activist and member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. She dedicated her life to advocating for the rights and preservation of Native American culture and traditions.
While the name Verdie has been in use for centuries, it has never achieved widespread popularity. However, its unique and distinctive sound, coupled with its connection to the color green, has allowed it to maintain a niche presence throughout various regions and cultures over time.
People
Verdie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Verdie 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
Verdie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Verdie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 358 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Verdie 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 957,414 US residents.
Is Verdie a common name?
We classify Verdie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,820 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Verdie most popular?
The single biggest year for Verdie was 1918, when 87 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Verdie is about 80 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Verdie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 563 people with the name Verdie, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,985 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 Verdie 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 Verdie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Verdie leans strongly female. 491 people counted with this name were female (86.0%), compared with 80 male bearers (14.0%). 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 Verdie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Verdie is White at 47.8%. The next largest groups are Black (46.0%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.3%). 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 Verdie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Verdie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.8% (269 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 Verdie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Verdie a female name?
Yes, 92.7% of people registered as Verdie 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 Verdie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Verdie 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 Verdie 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 Verdie?
Want to know how many Americans are named Verdie? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.