Vernel
A masculine name of Germanic origin meaning "truth" or "alder tree".
Name Census estimates that about 109 living Americans carry the first name Vernel. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 74.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Vernel today is around 73 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vernel births was 1927 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vernel. 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 Vernel is about 73 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Vernels were born before 1963.
People living today
109
~ 1 in 3,144,535 Americans
Peak year
1927
16 babies that year
Average age
73
years old
1987 SSA rank
#7,545
Tracked since 1913
Census
Vernel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 275 people with the first name Vernel, which placed it at #31,234 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
#31,234
National first-name rank
People counted
275
275 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
65.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vernel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vernel is Black at 65.8%. The next largest groups are White (18.2%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Vernel 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 Vernel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American65.8% · 181
- White18.2% · 50
- Two or more races5.5% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.0% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Vernel
Vernel is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 334 total registrations, 249 (74.6%) were male and 85 (25.4%) were female.
Vernel as a male name
- Ranked #8,094 in 1987
- 5 male births in 1987
- Peak: 1919 (11 births)
Vernel as a female name
- Ranked #7,545 in 1962
- 5 female births in 1962
- Peak: 1927 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Vernel on both sides of the split. Of the 274 people counted with this name, 178 were male (65.0%) and 96 were female (35.0%).
Popularity
Vernel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vernel from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 93 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
Vernel 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 Vernel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vernel
The name Vernel has its origins in the French language, tracing back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French word "vern," which means "alder tree." The alder tree was a common sight in the forests of medieval France, and its wood was used for various purposes, including woodworking and making charcoal.
While the name Vernel does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is believed to have been used as a surname in certain regions of France as early as the 12th century. Over time, it transitioned from a surname to a given name, likely due to its pleasant sound and natural association.
One of the earliest recorded instances of Vernel as a first name dates back to the 16th century. A French merchant named Vernel Durand lived in the city of Lyon during this period and was known for his successful trading ventures with neighboring countries.
In the 17th century, a French playwright named Vernel Lemoine gained recognition for his comedic works, which were performed in Parisian theaters. His plays often satirized the upper class and explored themes of love, betrayal, and societal norms.
During the 18th century, Vernel Laporte, a French architect, left his mark on the city of Bordeaux by designing several notable buildings, including the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux, which is still standing today and celebrated for its neoclassical architecture.
In the 19th century, Vernel Dubois, a French botanist, made significant contributions to the field of plant taxonomy. He traveled extensively throughout Europe, collecting and documenting various plant species, and his work helped advance the understanding of plant classification and evolution.
Another notable figure from the 19th century was Vernel Mercier, a French artist renowned for his landscape paintings. His works depicted the natural beauty of the French countryside, capturing the changing seasons and the play of light on rural scenes.
As the name Vernel transitioned into the 20th century, it continued to be used, albeit less frequently. One notable individual was Vernel Bagneris, a French jazz musician and composer who was active in the 1950s and 1960s, contributing to the vibrant jazz scene in Paris during that era.
People
Vernel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vernel 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
Vernel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vernel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 109 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vernel 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 3,144,535 US residents.
Is Vernel a common name?
We classify Vernel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 334 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vernel most popular?
The single biggest year for Vernel was 1927, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vernel is about 73 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vernel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 275 people with the name Vernel, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,234 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 Vernel 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 Vernel?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Vernel on both sides of the split. Of the 274 people counted with this name, 178 were male (65.0%) and 96 were female (35.0%). 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 Vernel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vernel is Black at 65.8%. The next largest groups are White (18.2%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Vernel most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Vernel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.8% (181 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 Vernel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vernel a male name?
Yes, 74.6% of people registered as Vernel 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 Vernel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vernel 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 Vernel 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 Vernel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.