Vernona
A feminine name derived from French meaning "alder tree meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 74 living Americans carry the first name Vernona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Vernona today is around 78 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vernona births was 1942 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vernona. 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 Vernona is about 78 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Vernonas were born before 1958.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Vernona. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
74
~ 1 in 4,631,815 Americans
Peak year
1942
17 babies that year
Average age
78
years old
1967 SSA rank
#7,818
Tracked since 1913
Census
Vernona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 155 people with the first name Vernona, which placed it at #44,540 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
#44,540
National first-name rank
People counted
155
155 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vernona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vernona is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Black (28.4%) and Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Vernona 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 Vernona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.3% · 95
- Black or African American28.4% · 44
- Hispanic or Latino4.5% · 7
- Two or more races3.9% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
Popularity
Vernona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vernona from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 95 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vernona 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 Vernona 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 Vernona
The name Vernona originated in ancient Rome, derived from the Latin word "vernalis," meaning "of spring" or "vernal." It was a feminine form of the masculine name Vernalis, which was given to children born during the spring season. The name gained popularity among the Roman aristocracy and was often associated with fertility and renewal.
In the early days of Christianity, the name Vernona was sometimes given to girls born around the time of the vernal equinox or Easter, symbolizing the rebirth and resurrection celebrated during this period. The name can be found in some early Christian records and texts, although its usage was relatively limited.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Vernona dates back to the 4th century AD, when a Roman noblewoman named Vernona Valeria was mentioned in historical documents. She was known for her charitable works and support for the early Christian community.
In the Middle Ages, the name Vernona experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly in certain regions of Italy and France. During this time, it was often associated with the blooming of spring flowers and the renewal of life after the harsh winters.
Notable historical figures with the name Vernona include:
1. Vernona of Arles (c. 450 AD - 520 AD), a Gallo-Roman Christian martyr and saint venerated in parts of southern France.
2. Vernona Visconti (c. 1370 - 1438), an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts during the Renaissance period.
3. Vernona della Scala (c. 1495 - 1567), an Italian Renaissance poet and writer from the prestigious Della Scala family of Verona.
4. Vernona Borgia (c. 1530 - 1590), a member of the infamous Borgia family and a confidante of Pope Sixtus V.
5. Vernona Montesquieu (1689 - 1755), a French philosopher and writer who was a close friend of the Enlightenment thinker Montesquieu.
While the name Vernona has fallen out of widespread use in modern times, it remains a unique and historically significant name with roots in ancient Roman culture and early Christianity.
People
Vernona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vernona 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
Vernona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vernona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 74 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vernona 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 4,631,815 US residents.
Is Vernona a common name?
We classify Vernona as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 250 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vernona most popular?
The single biggest year for Vernona was 1942, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vernona is about 78 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vernona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 155 people with the name Vernona, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,540 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 Vernona 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 Vernona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vernona appears almost entirely female. Of the 157 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Vernona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vernona is White at 61.3%. The next largest groups are Black (28.4%) and Hispanic (4.5%). 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 Vernona most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Vernona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.3% (95 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 Vernona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vernona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vernona 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 Vernona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vernona 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 Vernona 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 named Vernona?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Vernona at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.