Vernor
A German masculine name referring to one who travels or an alewife.
Name Census estimates that about 22 living Americans carry the first name Vernor. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Vernor today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vernor births was 1918 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vernor. 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 Vernor is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Vernors were born before 1959.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Vernor. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
22
~ 1 in 15,579,743 Americans
Peak year
1918
12 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
1961 SSA rank
#4,632
Tracked since 1915
Popularity
Vernor: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vernor from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 45 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
Vernor 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 Vernor 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 Vernor
The name Vernor has its origins in the Old English language, derived from the Germanic word "frorn," meaning "brave" or "courageous." It first appeared in written records during the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain, which spanned from the 5th to the 11th centuries.
One of the earliest known references to the name Vernor can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a historical record dating back to the 9th century. In this text, the name is spelled "Fernor" and is associated with a Saxon warrior who fought against the invading Danish forces.
During the Middle Ages, the name Vernor gained popularity among the nobility and upper classes of English society. It was often used as a first name for sons born into prominent families, signifying the parents' hope for their child to possess bravery and strength.
One notable figure who bore the name Vernor was Sir Vernor de Raleigh, a 13th-century English knight who fought alongside King Edward I during the Wars of Scottish Independence. He was renowned for his valor on the battlefield and his unwavering loyalty to the crown.
In the 16th century, the name Vernor appeared in several Elizabethan plays and works of literature, including Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor," where a character named Vernor is mentioned briefly.
Another famous bearer of the name was Vernor Vinge, an American science fiction author and retired professor of mathematics and computer science, who was born in 1944. His novels, such as "A Fire Upon the Deep" and "Rainbows End," explored themes of technological singularity and the impact of artificial intelligence on humanity.
Other notable individuals named Vernor include Vernor Winfield Munger (1827-1913), an American politician and jurist who served as a U.S. Representative from Michigan, and Vernor Smith (1905-1984), a British actor and playwright known for his work in radio plays and television dramas during the mid-20th century.
While the name Vernor has declined in popularity in recent times, it remains a distinctive and historically significant name with a rich heritage dating back to the early Anglo-Saxon period.
People
Vernor + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vernor 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
Vernor: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vernor?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 22 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vernor 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 15,579,743 US residents.
Is Vernor a common name?
We classify Vernor as "Very Rare". It ranks above 41.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 118 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vernor most popular?
The single biggest year for Vernor was 1918, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vernor is about 77 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Vernor in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vernor a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Vernor 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 Vernor still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vernor 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 Vernor 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Vernor?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.