Verne
A masculine name of French origin meaning "alder tree".
Name Census estimates that about 1,728 living Americans carry the first name Verne. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Verne today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Verne births was 1919 (200 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Verne. 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 Verne is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Vernes were born before 1962.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 198,353 Americans
Peak year
1919
200 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1990 SSA rank
#7,544
Tracked since 1880
Census
Verne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,186 people with the first name Verne, which placed it at #7,080 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
#7,080
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,186 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Verne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Verne is White at 83.1%. The next largest groups are Black (9.5%) and Two or More Races (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 Verne 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 Verne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.1% · 1,817
- Black or African American9.5% · 208
- Two or more races2.7% · 59
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 48
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 20
Gender
Gender distribution for Verne
Verne leans heavily male at 86.9% of total registrations, but 878 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Verne as a male name
- Ranked #9,426 in 1990
- 5 male births in 1990
- Peak: 1919 (167 births)
Verne as a female name
- Ranked #7,544 in 1962
- 5 female births in 1962
- Peak: 1918 (42 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Verne leans strongly male. 1,939 people counted with this name were male (88.5%), compared with 252 female bearers (11.5%).
Popularity
Verne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Verne from the 1880s through to the 1990s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,572 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
Verne 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 Verne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vernes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. Illinois, California, Iowa recorded the most babies named Verne, while New Hampshire, North Carolina, Maine recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 121 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Verne
The name Verne is a French masculine given name derived from the Old French word "vern," meaning "alder tree." The alder tree was a significant plant in ancient Celtic culture, and the name likely originated from this background. The earliest recorded use of the name Verne dates back to the Middle Ages, around the 12th century, primarily in areas of France and neighboring regions.
One of the earliest known references to the name Verne can be found in the epic poem "La Chanson de Roland" (The Song of Roland), a masterpiece of Old French literature from the 11th century. The poem mentions a character named Verne, though historical details about this individual remain scarce.
During the Renaissance period, the name Verne gained popularity among French nobility and aristocracy. One notable figure was Verne de Marseille (1510-1568), a French poet and playwright renowned for his works in the Occitan language.
In the 19th century, the name Verne became globally famous thanks to the influential French novelist Jules Verne (1828-1905), widely regarded as the father of science fiction. His groundbreaking novels, such as "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" and "Around the World in Eighty Days," captivated readers worldwide and popularized the name Verne across various cultures.
Another prominent individual with the name Verne was Verne E. Boston (1906-1991), an American civil rights activist and lawyer who played a crucial role in the desegregation of public schools in the United States. His legal efforts and advocacy were instrumental in the historic Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education in 1954.
More recently, Verne Troyer (1969-2018) was an American actor and comedian best known for his role as Mini-Me in the Austin Powers film series. Despite his short stature, Troyer had a successful career in Hollywood and became a recognizable figure in popular culture.
While the name Verne has its roots in French culture and language, it has transcended geographical boundaries and continues to be used globally, often as a homage to the influential writer Jules Verne or as a nod to the natural world and the alder tree's symbolism.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Verne
People
Verne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Verne 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
Verne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Verne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,728 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Verne 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 198,353 US residents.
Is Verne a common name?
We classify Verne as "Rare". It ranks above 93.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,719 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Verne most popular?
The single biggest year for Verne was 1919, when 200 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Verne is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Verne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,186 people with the name Verne, or 0.72 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,080 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 Verne 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 Verne?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Verne leans strongly male. 1,939 people counted with this name were male (88.5%), compared with 252 female bearers (11.5%). 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 Verne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Verne is White at 83.1%. The next largest groups are Black (9.5%) and Two or More Races (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 Verne most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Verne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.1% (1,817 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 Verne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Verne a male name?
Yes, 86.9% of people registered as Verne in the SSA data are male. 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 Verne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Verne 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 Verne 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 Verne?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.