Vernita
A feminine name derived from the French word "verne", meaning alder or green.
Name Census estimates that about 2,410 living Americans carry the first name Vernita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Vernita today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vernita births was 1961 (123 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vernita. 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.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 142,222 Americans
Peak year
1961
123 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
2009 SSA rank
#20,046
Tracked since 1899
Census
Vernita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,494 people with the first name Vernita, which placed it at #6,432 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
#6,432
National first-name rank
People counted
2.5K
2,494 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
76.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vernita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vernita is Black at 76.5%. The next largest groups are White (16.2%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (3.0%). 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 Vernita 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 Vernita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American76.5% · 1,908
- White16.2% · 404
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.0% · 74
- Two or more races2.6% · 64
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 36
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 8
Popularity
Vernita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vernita from the 1890s through to the 2000s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 935 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vernita 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 Vernita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vernitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 22 states and territories. Illinois, Georgia, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Vernita, while Washington, Kentucky, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 58 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vernita
The name Vernita is believed to have its origins in the Latin language. It is thought to be derived from the Latin word "vernalis," which means "of the spring" or "vernal." This suggests that the name may have been associated with the season of spring or the renewal and rebirth that comes with it.
In ancient Roman times, the name Vernita may have been used as a name for a child born during the spring months. However, there are no definitive historical records or ancient texts that explicitly mention the use of this name during that period.
The earliest recorded use of the name Vernita dates back to the Middle Ages in Europe. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Vernita of Genoa, an Italian noblewoman who lived in the 13th century. She was known for her charitable works and her support of the local church.
Another notable figure with the name Vernita was Vernita Viterbo, a 14th-century Italian artist and painter. She was renowned for her religious artwork and frescoes, some of which can still be seen in churches and cathedrals throughout Italy.
In the 16th century, Vernita Borgia was a member of the powerful Borgia family in Italy. She was known for her intelligence and political acumen, serving as an advisor to her brother, Cesare Borgia, who was a cardinal and military leader.
During the 17th century, Vernita Casanova was a Venetian writer and philosopher. She was known for her essays on ethics and her contributions to the Enlightenment movement in Europe.
In the 19th century, Vernita Nightingale was a British nurse and social reformer. She is widely regarded as the founder of modern nursing and is famous for her work during the Crimean War, where she helped improve the conditions in military hospitals.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Vernita. While the name may have fallen out of common usage in recent times, it has a rich history and cultural significance rooted in its Latin origins and associations with spring and renewal.
People
Vernita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vernita 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
Vernita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vernita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,410 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vernita 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 142,222 US residents.
Is Vernita a common name?
We classify Vernita 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, 4,027 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vernita most popular?
The single biggest year for Vernita was 1961, when 123 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vernita is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vernita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,494 people with the name Vernita, or 0.83 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,432 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 Vernita 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 Vernita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vernita appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,496 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Vernita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vernita is Black at 76.5%. The next largest groups are White (16.2%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (3.0%). 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 Vernita most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Vernita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.5% (1,908 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 Vernita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vernita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vernita 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 Vernita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vernita 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 Vernita 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 Americans are named Vernita?
Want to know how many Americans are named Vernita? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.