Girls' name · peaked in 1959
Valerie name popularity since 1925
271,342 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Valerie. Half of them were born in 1972 or earlier, so the typical Valerie is about 54 years old in 2026. Valerie peaked in 1959 as the #60 name for girls, and it ranked #127 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 271,342
- Named Valerie, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- #127
- for girls in 2025 (2,221 babies)
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% girls
- 270,649 girls · 693 boys
- Most popular in
- New Mexico
- 1.81× its national share
Peak year is the year Valerie made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Valerie births per year, 1925–2025
1959 was the biggest year for Valerie both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1947 and 1952, Valerie became 2.6× more common, from 1 in 1,140 baby girls to 1 in 435.
- Steepest fall: Between 1985 and 1990, its share of baby girls fell by 43%, from 1 in 443 to 1 in 782.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Valerie's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Valerie.
Decade by decade
Babies named Valerie in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 876 | 0 | – |
| 1930s | 3,960 | 5 | #276 |
| 1940s | 13,694 | 29 | #189 |
| 1950s | 52,230 | 116 | #80 |
| 1960s | 56,588 | 151 | #67 |
| 1970s | 33,810 | 153 | #92 |
| 1980s | 34,629 | 161 | #71 |
| 1990s | 22,012 | 39 | #149 |
| 2000s | 21,962 | 39 | #167 |
| 2010s | 19,013 | 0 | #171 |
| 2020–25 | 11,875 | 0 | #127 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
34.3% of babies named Valerie from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Valerie is most popular
The index compares Valerie's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Valerie.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| New Mexico | 1.81× | 2,720 |
| Hawaii | 1.65× | 1,400 |
| California | 1.52× | 43,705 |
| District of Columbia | 1.44× | 1,805 |
| Nevada | 1.30× | 1,258 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Valerie and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Valerie (this page) | 270,649 | 1959 |
| Valarie | 18,576 | 1964 |
| Valery | 8,808 | 2025 |
| Valorie | 7,522 | 1958 |
| Valeri | 1,940 | 1964 |
| Vallerie | 1,122 | 2009 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Valerie's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Valerie.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Valerie (1959).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data