Vernice
A feminine name derived from the French word "verre" meaning "glass".
Name Census estimates that about 2,424 living Americans carry the first name Vernice. It is a predominantly female name (90.2% of registrations). The average person named Vernice today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vernice births was 1923 (245 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vernice. 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 Vernice is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Vernices were born before 1970.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 141,400 Americans
Peak year
1923
245 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
1973 SSA rank
#5,848
Tracked since 1887
Census
Vernice in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,003 people with the first name Vernice, which placed it at #5,634 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
#5,634
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
3,003 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
61.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vernice
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vernice is Black at 61.0%. The next largest groups are White (27.0%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Vernice 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 Vernice at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American61.0% · 1,833
- White27.0% · 810
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 185
- Two or more races3.0% · 90
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 63
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 22
Gender
Gender distribution for Vernice
Vernice leans heavily female at 90.2% of total registrations, but 789 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Vernice as a male name
- Ranked #5,848 in 1973
- 5 male births in 1973
- Peak: 1918 (31 births)
Vernice as a female name
- Ranked #19,426 in 2011
- 5 female births in 2011
- Peak: 1923 (225 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vernice leans strongly female. 2,772 people counted with this name were female (92.2%), compared with 234 male bearers (7.8%).
Popularity
Vernice: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vernice from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,984 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
Vernice 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 Vernice during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vernices live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. Mississippi, Texas, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Vernice, while West Virginia, New Jersey, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 116 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vernice
The name Vernice is believed to have its origins in Latin, deriving from the word "vernix," which means "natural" or "native." This suggests that the name may have been associated with someone who was considered deeply rooted in their local culture or region.
In ancient Roman times, the name Vernice was occasionally used, although it was not particularly common. There are a few historical records that mention individuals with this name, such as Vernice Lucretius, a Roman scholar from the 1st century BC, and Vernice Claudius, a nobleman who lived during the reign of Emperor Tiberius in the 1st century AD.
As the Roman Empire spread its influence across Europe, the name Vernice likely traveled with it, eventually finding its way into other languages and cultures. However, it remained relatively rare throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Vernice comes from Italy, where it was sometimes used as a feminine form of the name Vernico. In the 15th century, there was a Vernice Bonaccorsi, a wealthy merchant from Florence who was known for her philanthropic efforts.
Another notable figure was Vernice Trevisan, an Italian painter from the 16th century who was renowned for her portraits and religious works. Her birthdate is uncertain, but she is believed to have been active in Venice between 1520 and 1550.
In the 18th century, Vernice Sanseverino was a celebrated poet and writer from Naples, Italy. She was born in 1707 and was known for her contributions to the Neapolitan literary movement.
Across the Atlantic, there are records of a Vernice Longfellow, an American poet and educator who lived from 1812 to 1892. She was the sister of the famous poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and was involved in the abolitionist movement.
Another notable figure was Vernice Armour, a philanthropist and social activist from Chicago, Illinois. Born in 1897, she was instrumental in establishing several organizations dedicated to improving the lives of underprivileged children and families.
While the name Vernice has never been exceptionally popular, it has maintained a presence throughout history, carrying with it a sense of natural grace and cultural connection. Its enduring legacy spans across various regions and time periods, leaving a trail of remarkable individuals who have left their mark on the world.
People
Vernice + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vernice 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
Vernice: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vernice?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,424 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vernice 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 141,400 US residents.
Is Vernice a common name?
We classify Vernice as "Rare". It ranks above 94.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,079 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vernice most popular?
The single biggest year for Vernice was 1923, when 245 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vernice is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vernice in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,003 people with the name Vernice, or 0.99 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,634 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 Vernice 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 Vernice?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vernice leans strongly female. 2,772 people counted with this name were female (92.2%), compared with 234 male bearers (7.8%). 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 Vernice?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vernice is Black at 61.0%. The next largest groups are White (27.0%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Vernice most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Vernice in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.0% (1,833 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 Vernice in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vernice a female name?
Yes, 90.2% of people registered as Vernice 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 Vernice still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vernice 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 Vernice 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 are called Vernice?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.