Val
Val was given to 22 boys in 2025, #4,691 among boys’ names; 7,406 Americans have been recorded with it since 1882 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 4,170 Americans named Val and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (56% of everyone recorded); the median is 67 years old and half are between 58 and 73.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Val by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Val mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Val is “a male given name, a short form of Valentine and Valerius.”
Also “a female given name, a short form of Valerie and Valmai.”
/væl/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Val?
#4,691 among boys’ names, 2025
Val rose from #6,647 in 2015 to #4,691 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 6.8 to 12.9 per million.
253 babies in 1956, the peak
Val peaked in 1956, when 253 babies were given it (168 boys, #588 among boys’ names). The 22 births of 2025 are 9% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | under 5 | 22 | #4,691 | |
| 2024 | 6 | #15,116 | 17 | #5,632 |
| 2023 | 6 | #15,043 | 19 | #5,236 |
| 2022 | 6 | #15,162 | 16 | #5,845 |
| 2021 | under 5 | 10 | #8,111 | |
| 2020 | under 5 | 6 | #11,920 | |
| 2019 | under 5 | 10 | #8,159 | |
| 2018 | under 5 | 8 | #9,601 | |
| 2017 | under 5 | 12 | #7,064 | |
| 2016 | under 5 | 6 | #12,071 |
Every recorded year (129)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | under 5 | 13 | #6,647 | |
| 2014 | under 5 | 10 | #8,074 | |
| 2012 | under 5 | 7 | #10,681 | |
| 2011 | under 5 | 8 | #9,537 | |
| 2010 | under 5 | 8 | #9,621 | |
| 2009 | under 5 | 9 | #8,940 | |
| 2008 | under 5 | 6 | #12,450 | |
| 2007 | under 5 | 8 | #9,726 | |
| 2006 | under 5 | 11 | #7,386 | |
| 2005 | under 5 | 13 | #6,194 | |
| 2004 | under 5 | 12 | #6,493 | |
| 2003 | under 5 | 13 | #5,858 | |
| 2002 | under 5 | 14 | #5,375 | |
| 2001 | under 5 | 12 | #5,983 | |
| 2000 | under 5 | 21 | #3,906 | |
| 1999 | under 5 | 14 | #5,011 | |
| 1998 | under 5 | 27 | #3,011 | |
| 1997 | under 5 | 17 | #4,041 | |
| 1996 | under 5 | 14 | #4,594 | |
| 1995 | under 5 | 9 | #6,376 | |
| 1994 | under 5 | 16 | #4,076 | |
| 1993 | under 5 | 11 | #5,334 | |
| 1992 | under 5 | 13 | #4,551 | |
| 1991 | under 5 | 14 | #4,207 | |
| 1990 | under 5 | 16 | #3,760 | |
| 1989 | under 5 | 14 | #4,006 | |
| 1988 | under 5 | 7 | #6,381 | |
| 1987 | under 5 | 9 | #4,937 | |
| 1986 | under 5 | 14 | #3,430 | |
| 1985 | 5 | #12,423 | 16 | #3,060 |
| 1984 | under 5 | 15 | #3,094 | |
| 1983 | under 5 | 9 | #4,480 | |
| 1982 | under 5 | 14 | #3,273 | |
| 1981 | under 5 | 26 | #2,084 | |
| 1980 | 6 | #10,339 | 23 | #2,280 |
| 1979 | under 5 | 28 | #1,940 | |
| 1978 | under 5 | 21 | #2,273 | |
| 1977 | under 5 | 36 | #1,568 | |
| 1976 | 5 | #10,839 | 16 | #2,704 |
| 1975 | under 5 | 27 | #1,832 | |
| 1974 | under 5 | 36 | #1,469 | |
| 1973 | 9 | #6,056 | 41 | #1,310 |
| 1972 | 12 | #4,781 | 41 | #1,325 |
| 1971 | 11 | #5,117 | 52 | #1,147 |
| 1970 | 11 | #5,046 | 58 | #1,079 |
| 1969 | 13 | #4,185 | 62 | #981 |
| 1968 | 17 | #3,306 | 48 | #1,082 |
| 1967 | 16 | #3,325 | 68 | #874 |
| 1966 | 19 | #2,932 | 64 | #914 |
| 1965 | 24 | #2,534 | 73 | #865 |
| 1964 | 37 | #1,972 | 77 | #874 |
| 1963 | 59 | #1,460 | 97 | #778 |
| 1962 | 59 | #1,454 | 102 | #758 |
| 1961 | 96 | #1,124 | 88 | #815 |
| 1960 | 75 | #1,278 | 122 | #711 |
| 1959 | 93 | #1,114 | 130 | #669 |
| 1958 | 110 | #992 | 127 | #675 |
| 1957 | 91 | #1,098 | 142 | #646 |
| 1956 | 85 | #1,127 | 168 | #588 |
| 1955 | 73 | #1,173 | 150 | #605 |
| 1954 | 69 | #1,211 | 148 | #608 |
| 1953 | 59 | #1,274 | 156 | #574 |
| 1952 | 48 | #1,418 | 178 | #526 |
| 1951 | 39 | #1,525 | 138 | #594 |
| 1950 | 36 | #1,572 | 138 | #579 |
| 1949 | 25 | #1,963 | 132 | #594 |
| 1948 | 24 | #2,002 | 129 | #590 |
| 1947 | 24 | #2,040 | 116 | #642 |
| 1946 | 19 | #2,224 | 105 | #629 |
| 1945 | 21 | #1,870 | 71 | #733 |
| 1944 | 16 | #2,283 | 87 | #666 |
| 1943 | 16 | #2,347 | 71 | #779 |
| 1942 | 26 | #1,664 | 103 | #625 |
| 1941 | 8 | #3,538 | 74 | #722 |
| 1940 | 19 | #1,894 | 84 | #666 |
| 1939 | 15 | #2,199 | 80 | #666 |
| 1938 | 19 | #1,869 | 78 | #689 |
| 1937 | 20 | #1,780 | 71 | #721 |
| 1936 | 25 | #1,502 | 75 | #687 |
| 1935 | 14 | #2,296 | 77 | #692 |
| 1934 | 7 | #3,773 | 63 | #786 |
| 1933 | 18 | #1,903 | 67 | #750 |
| 1932 | 22 | #1,678 | 69 | #761 |
| 1931 | 16 | #2,097 | 56 | #855 |
| 1930 | 11 | #2,827 | 65 | #809 |
| 1929 | 22 | #1,758 | 44 | #1,043 |
| 1928 | 5 | #5,369 | 57 | #890 |
| 1927 | 7 | #4,251 | 52 | #978 |
| 1926 | 11 | #3,027 | 39 | #1,157 |
| 1925 | 14 | #2,606 | 40 | #1,120 |
| 1924 | 9 | #3,637 | 37 | #1,202 |
| 1923 | 11 | #3,106 | 61 | #881 |
| 1922 | 8 | #3,983 | 37 | #1,193 |
| 1921 | 9 | #3,639 | 32 | #1,326 |
| 1920 | 15 | #2,454 | 37 | #1,207 |
| 1919 | 11 | #2,988 | 28 | #1,380 |
| 1918 | 6 | #4,768 | 34 | #1,210 |
| 1917 | 11 | #2,863 | 37 | #1,108 |
| 1916 | 5 | #5,099 | 35 | #1,117 |
| 1915 | 14 | #2,246 | 28 | #1,261 |
| 1914 | 6 | #3,574 | 18 | #1,483 |
| 1913 | 6 | #3,151 | 24 | #1,045 |
| 1912 | 5 | #3,400 | 22 | #997 |
| 1911 | 5 | #2,834 | 5 | #1,979 |
| 1910 | under 5 | 6 | #1,573 | |
| 1909 | under 5 | 6 | #1,429 | |
| 1908 | 9 | #1,536 | 7 | #1,206 |
| 1907 | under 5 | 10 | #927 | |
| 1906 | under 5 | 7 | #1,104 | |
| 1904 | under 5 | 5 | #1,386 | |
| 1903 | under 5 | 5 | #1,293 | |
| 1902 | under 5 | 9 | #855 | |
| 1900 | under 5 | 7 | #1,153 | |
| 1898 | under 5 | 5 | #1,279 | |
| 1897 | under 5 | 8 | #846 | |
| 1890 | under 5 | 6 | #988 | |
| 1886 | under 5 | 5 | #1,097 | |
| 1885 | under 5 | 5 | #1,089 | |
| 1882 | under 5 | 5 | #1,086 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Val a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 7,406 Americans recorded as Val, 24% are girls and 76% boys. Boys have outnumbered girls among babies named Val every year since 1962. In 2025 it went to 22 boys; SSA lists no girls with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Val: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Val, and how old are they?
4,170 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 56% of the 7,406 Americans ever recorded as Val. The median Val alive today is 67 years old; half are between 58 and 73.
The 2020 Census counted 7,617 people named Val (3,126 women and girls, 4,491 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 4,661 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1.6 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 364 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 2,490 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 734 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 211 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 196 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 166 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Val born?
The states with the most babies named Val are Utah, California and Texas, with 60% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Utah is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utah | 737 | not ranked | 14.4× |
| California | 719 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Texas | 199 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Idaho | 186 | not ranked | 5.8× |
| New York | 163 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Illinois | 162 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Michigan | 160 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Ohio | 121 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Pennsylvania | 115 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Washington | 40 | not ranked | 0.4× |
Where Val is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Val is most over-represented in Utah: since 1910 it was given 14.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Val with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Val
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Val and names like it
- Compare Val and DannieBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sVal peaked in 1956.
- Utah’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Val since 1910.
- The top names of 1956The year the most babies were named Val.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Val alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with VMost given first.