Vernee
A feminine name of French origin meaning "green" or "verdant".
Name Census estimates that about 84 living Americans carry the first name Vernee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Vernee today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vernee births was 1979 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vernee. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Vernee. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
84
~ 1 in 4,080,409 Americans
Peak year
1979
30 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1983 SSA rank
#12,018
Tracked since 1957
Census
Vernee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 144 people with the first name Vernee, which placed it at #46,371 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
#46,371
National first-name rank
People counted
144
144 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
68.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vernee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vernee is Black at 68.8%. The next largest groups are White (15.3%) and Hispanic (4.9%). 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 Vernee 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 Vernee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American68.8% · 99
- White15.3% · 22
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.2% · 6
- Two or more races2.8% · 4
Popularity
Vernee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vernee from the 1950s through to the 1980s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 62 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Vernee remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vernee 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 Vernee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vernees live
Origin
Meaning and history of Vernee
The name Vernee is believed to have originated from the Old French word "verne," which means "alder tree." It is a unisex name that gained popularity in the Middle Ages, particularly in parts of France and surrounding regions.
During the 12th and 13th centuries, the name Vernee was commonly used in medieval France, often associated with individuals of noble or upper-class backgrounds. Historical records from this period show various spellings, such as Vernay, Vernei, and Verney, likely due to regional variations and changes in spelling conventions over time.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vernee can be found in the medieval French epic poem "La Chanson de Roland" (The Song of Roland), written around 1100 AD. In this literary work, a character named Vernee is mentioned as a knight in the service of Charlemagne, the King of the Franks.
Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance, several notable individuals bore the name Vernee. One such figure was Vernee de Savoie (1386-1458), a French nobleman and military commander who served under King Charles VII during the Hundred Years' War against England.
Another prominent Vernee was Vernee de Genève (1509-1572), a Swiss Protestant reformer and theologian who played a significant role in the Protestant Reformation movement in Geneva, alongside John Calvin.
In the realm of literature, Vernee de Beaumont (1711-1780) was a French author and governess best known for her collection of fairy tales, including the classic story "Beauty and the Beast."
During the 19th century, Vernee de Moncrif (1822-1891) was a French novelist and playwright who gained recognition for her works exploring themes of love, society, and family dynamics.
Lastly, Vernee Hutchinson (1887-1949) was an American writer and journalist who wrote extensively about social issues, particularly those affecting women and minority communities in the early 20th century.
While the name Vernee has deep historical roots, it has become less common in modern times, particularly in English-speaking countries. However, its unique and intriguing origins continue to make it an intriguing choice for those seeking a name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Vernee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vernee 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
Vernee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vernee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 84 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vernee 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 4,080,409 US residents.
Is Vernee a common name?
We classify Vernee as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 92 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vernee most popular?
The single biggest year for Vernee was 1979, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vernee is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vernee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 144 people with the name Vernee, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,371 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 Vernee 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 Vernee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vernee leans strongly female. 137 people counted with this name were female (98.6%), compared with 2 male bearers (1.4%). 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 Vernee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vernee is Black at 68.8%. The next largest groups are White (15.3%) and Hispanic (4.9%). 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 Vernee most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Vernee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.8% (99 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 Vernee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vernee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vernee 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 Vernee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vernee 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 Vernee 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 common is the name Vernee?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Vernee at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.