Verna
A feminine name derived from the Latin vernalis meaning "of the spring".
Name Census estimates that about 15,362 living Americans carry the first name Verna. It is a predominantly female name (99.2% of registrations). The average person named Verna today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Verna births was 1918 (1,885 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Verna. 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
- • Although Verna is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 525 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Verna is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Vernas were born before 1966.
- • Compared to the 1920s, recent registration numbers for Verna have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
15K
~ 1 in 22,312 Americans
Peak year
1918
1,885 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
1978 SSA rank
#4,999
Tracked since 1880
Census
Verna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 21,645 people with the first name Verna, which placed it at #1,525 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
#1,525
National first-name rank
People counted
22K
21,645 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
7.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Verna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Verna is White at 68.2%. The next largest groups are Black (22.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.7%). 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 Verna 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 Verna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.2% · 14,764
- Black or African American22.3% · 4,820
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 582
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 511
- Two or more races2.3% · 505
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 463
Gender
Gender distribution for Verna
Out of the 69,586 babies given the name Verna since 1880, 99.2% 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.
Verna as a male name
- Ranked #6,723 in 1978
- 5 male births in 1978
- Peak: 1922 (21 births)
Verna as a female name
- Ranked #4,999 in 2024
- 27 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1918 (1,873 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Verna appears almost entirely female. Of the 21,649 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Verna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Verna 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 16,419 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
Verna 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 Verna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vernas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Verna, while Rhode Island, Nevada, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,121 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Verna
The name Verna has its origins in the Latin language, where it was derived from the word "vernus," meaning "of the spring" or "vernal." This connection to the spring season suggests a sense of renewal, growth, and natural beauty associated with the name.
In ancient Roman culture, the name Verna was commonly used as a feminine name, often given to girls born during the spring months. It was a popular choice among Roman families, reflecting their appreciation for the natural cycles and the rebirth of life that occurred during this time of year.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Verna can be found in the writings of the Roman poet Ovid, who lived from 43 BC to 17 AD. In his work "Fasti," a poetic calendar of Roman festivals and traditions, Ovid mentions a character named Verna, who was a personification of the spring season.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Verna. One such person was Verna Bloom (1938-2019), an American actress known for her roles in films like "National Lampoon's Animal House" and "After Hours." Another was Verna Felton (1890-1966), a voice actress who provided the voice for various characters in Disney animated films, including the fairy godmother in "Cinderella."
In the realm of literature, Verna Safford (1863-1924) was an American author and poet who published several books, including "The Lure of the Tulip" and "The Little Book of American Poets." Verna Wright (1923-2009) was a pioneering African American journalist and civil rights activist, who worked as a reporter for the Kansas City Call and the Chicago Defender newspapers.
Lastly, Verna Aardema (1911-2000) was a renowned American author of children's books, best known for her works such as "Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears" and "Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain," for which she received the Caldecott Medal in 1982.
While the name Verna may not be as common today as it once was, its connection to the natural world and the cycle of seasons has endured throughout history, making it a name with a rich and enduring legacy.
People
Verna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Verna 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
Verna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Verna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,362 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Verna 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 22,312 US residents.
Is Verna a common name?
We classify Verna as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 69,586 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Verna most popular?
The single biggest year for Verna was 1918, when 1,885 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Verna is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Verna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 21,645 people with the name Verna, or 7.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,525 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 Verna 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 Verna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Verna appears almost entirely female. Of the 21,649 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Verna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Verna is White at 68.2%. The next largest groups are Black (22.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.7%). 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 Verna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Verna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.2% (14,764 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 Verna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Verna a female name?
Yes, 99.2% of people registered as Verna 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 Verna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Verna 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 Verna 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 Verna?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.