Verner
A masculine name of German origin meaning "protector" or "guarder".
Name Census estimates that about 422 living Americans carry the first name Verner. It is a predominantly male name (92.0% of registrations). The average person named Verner today is around 75 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Verner births was 1917 (79 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Verner. 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 Verner is about 75 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Verners were born before 1961.
People living today
422
~ 1 in 812,214 Americans
Peak year
1917
79 babies that year
Average age
75
years old
2000 SSA rank
#6,356
Tracked since 1881
Gender
Gender distribution for Verner
Verner leans heavily male at 92.0% of total registrations, but 171 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Verner as a male name
- Ranked #12,047 in 2000
- 5 male births in 2000
- Peak: 1917 (70 births)
Verner as a female name
- Ranked #6,356 in 1952
- 5 female births in 1952
- Peak: 1922 (15 births)
Popularity
Verner: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Verner from the 1880s through to the 2000s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 574 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
Verner 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 Verner during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Verners live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. Minnesota, Illinois, Georgia recorded the most babies named Verner, while Tennessee, Ohio, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 16 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Verner
The name Verner originates from the Germanic languages and is derived from the Old High German word "werinhari," which means "protector of truth." It has been in use since the Middle Ages and was particularly popular in areas of present-day Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
The earliest known record of the name Verner dates back to the 9th century, where it appears in the Codex Sangallensis, a manuscript from the Abbey of St. Gall in modern-day Switzerland. This early mention suggests that the name was already in use among Germanic-speaking communities during the Carolingian era.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Verner was Verner of Bamberg, a 12th-century Benedictine monk and scholar who authored several works on theology and philosophy. Another prominent figure was Verner von Heideck, a 13th-century German knight and military commander who participated in the Crusades.
In the 15th century, Verner Helmersen was a Norwegian explorer and navigator who is credited with discovering the island of Jan Mayen in the Arctic Ocean. Around the same time, Verner Knudsen, a Danish merchant and shipowner, played a significant role in establishing trade routes between Denmark and other European nations.
During the Renaissance period, Verner Soler was a Spanish painter and engraver known for his contributions to the Mannerist style. He lived from circa 1515 to 1580 and was active in several cities across Spain and Italy.
In more recent centuries, Verner Panton was a Danish designer and architect who gained international recognition for his innovative furniture designs and pioneering use of plastic materials in the 1960s and 1970s. He was born in 1926 and passed away in 1998.
People
Verner + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Verner 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
Verner: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Verner?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 422 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Verner 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 812,214 US residents.
Is Verner a common name?
We classify Verner as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,134 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Verner most popular?
The single biggest year for Verner was 1917, when 79 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Verner is about 75 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Verner a male name?
Yes, 92.0% of people registered as Verner 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.
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.