Verma
An Indian given name derived from the Sanskrit word "varm," meaning armor or protection.
Name Census estimates that about 203 living Americans carry the first name Verma. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Verma today is around 78 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Verma births was 1923 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Verma. 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 Verma is about 78 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Vermas were born before 1958.
People living today
203
~ 1 in 1,688,445 Americans
Peak year
1923
34 babies that year
Average age
78
years old
1972 SSA rank
#8,250
Tracked since 1898
Census
Verma in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 388 people with the first name Verma, which placed it at #24,718 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
#24,718
National first-name rank
People counted
388
388 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
47.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Verma
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Verma is Black at 47.7%. The next largest groups are White (37.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.2%). 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 Verma 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 Verma at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American47.7% · 185
- White37.9% · 147
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.2% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 17
- Two or more races3.1% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 7
Popularity
Verma: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Verma from the 1890s through to the 1970s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 252 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
Verma 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 Verma during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vermas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Texas, Alabama, Georgia recorded the most babies named Verma, while Oklahoma, Mississippi, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Verma
The name Verma has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which was predominant in ancient India. It is believed to have emerged around the 5th century BCE, during the Vedic period of Indian history.
Verma is derived from the Sanskrit word "varmana," which means armor or protection. It was initially used as a title or honorific for warriors and knights who were skilled in the art of warfare and known for their bravery and valor on the battlefield.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Verma can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. In this epic, there is a character named Verma, who was a valiant warrior and a member of the Kuru clan.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Verma. One of the most famous was Verma Bhagat, a Hindu mystic and poet who lived in the 15th century CE. His compositions, known as the "Verma Vani," are revered in the Sikh tradition.
Another prominent figure was Maharana Pratap Verma, who ruled the Kingdom of Mewar in Rajasthan, India, from 1572 to 1597 CE. He is renowned for his bravery and resistance against the Mughal Empire, and his exploits are celebrated in numerous folklores and legends.
In the realm of literature, Verma Bhanupratap Singh was a renowned Hindi poet and writer who lived from 1889 to 1968 CE. His works, including the famous novel "Bhanupratap Viyog," explored themes of love, social issues, and the human condition.
Moving to more recent times, Verma Jayashankar Prasad was an Indian independence activist, poet, and writer who lived from 1889 to 1937 CE. He is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the Hindi literary movement and is best known for his epic poem "Kamayani."
Another notable individual was Verma Vinod Khanna, an acclaimed Indian actor who graced the silver screen from the 1960s until his passing in 2017 CE. He was known for his versatile performances and received numerous accolades, including the prestigious Filmfare Award.
People
Verma + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Verma 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
Verma: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Verma?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 203 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Verma 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 1,688,445 US residents.
Is Verma a common name?
We classify Verma as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 929 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Verma most popular?
The single biggest year for Verma was 1923, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Verma is about 78 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Verma in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 388 people with the name Verma, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,718 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 Verma 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 Verma?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Verma leans strongly female. 382 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Verma?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Verma is Black at 47.7%. The next largest groups are White (37.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.2%). 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 Verma most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Verma in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.7% (185 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 Verma in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Verma a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Verma 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 Verma still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Verma 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 Verma 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 Verma?
See how many Americans are named Verma on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.