Verlean
A feminine name derived from an Old French form of Valerian, meaning "strength, vigor".
Name Census estimates that about 169 living Americans carry the first name Verlean. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Verlean today is around 75 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Verlean births was 1955 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Verlean. 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 Verlean is about 75 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Verleans were born before 1961.
People living today
169
~ 1 in 2,028,132 Americans
Peak year
1955
20 babies that year
Average age
75
years old
1965 SSA rank
#5,269
Tracked since 1917
Census
Verlean in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 224 people with the first name Verlean, which placed it at #35,741 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
#35,741
National first-name rank
People counted
224
224 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
88.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Verlean
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Verlean is Black at 88.4%. The next largest groups are White (9.8%) and Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Verlean 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 Verlean at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American88.4% · 198
- White9.8% · 22
- Two or more races1.8% · 4
Popularity
Verlean: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Verlean from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 127 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Verlean 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 Verlean during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Verleans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Verlean, while Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Verlean
The name Verlean has its origins in the Old French language, derived from the combination of the words "ver," meaning "true," and "lean," meaning "loyal." This name dates back to the Middle Ages, around the 11th to 13th centuries, and was primarily used in regions of modern-day France and parts of England during the Norman conquest.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Verlean can be found in a medieval French poem from the 12th century, where it was used to describe a knight's unwavering loyalty to his lord. The name also appeared in several ancient French texts and chronicles, often associated with themes of honor, bravery, and steadfastness.
In the 13th century, a notable figure named Verlean de Montfort was a prominent military commander during the Albigensian Crusade, known for his fierce loyalty to the Catholic Church and his role in the capture of the city of Béziers in 1209.
During the Renaissance period, Verlean Beauchamp (1480-1543) was a renowned French scholar and philosopher who made significant contributions to the study of ethics and moral philosophy. His treatise, "De Veritate et Fidelitate" (On Truth and Loyalty), explored the virtues associated with the name Verlean.
In the 17th century, Verlean Duval (1619-1683) was a celebrated French painter known for her portraiture work and her patronage from the French royal court. Her paintings often depicted scenes of loyalty and devotion, reflecting the meaning behind her name.
Moving into the 18th century, Verlean Rousseau (1712-1778) was a prominent French writer and philosopher who advocated for individual freedom and the pursuit of truth. While not directly related to the name's etymology, Rousseau's works championed values of authenticity and integrity.
These historical references and notable individuals demonstrate the enduring significance of the name Verlean throughout various eras and its association with qualities such as loyalty, truthfulness, and steadfastness.
People
Verlean + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Verlean 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
Verlean: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Verlean?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 169 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Verlean 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 2,028,132 US residents.
Is Verlean a common name?
We classify Verlean as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 453 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Verlean most popular?
The single biggest year for Verlean was 1955, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Verlean is about 75 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Verlean in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 224 people with the name Verlean, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,741 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 Verlean 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 Verlean?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Verlean appears almost entirely female. Of the 224 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Verlean?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Verlean is Black at 88.4%. The next largest groups are White (9.8%) and Two or More Races (1.8%). 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 Verlean most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Verlean in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.4% (198 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 Verlean in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Verlean a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Verlean 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 Verlean still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Verlean 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 Verlean 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 Verlean?
See how many people have the name Verlean on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.