Vera
Vera was given to 1,482 girls in 2025, #205 among girls’ names; 149,854 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 47,800 Americans named Vera and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (32% of everyone recorded); the median is 59 years old and half are between 10 and 75.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Vera by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Vera mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Vera is “a female given name from Russian.” Its etymology gives the sense “faith” (Ве́ра).
Borrowed in the nineteenth century from the Russian virtue name Ве́ра (Véra, “faith”). By folk etymology it has also been explained as Latin vera (“true”).
/ˈvɪə.ɹə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Vera?
#205 among girls’ names, 2025
Vera rose from #311 in 2015 to #205 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 0.59 to 0.92 per 1,000.
3,934 babies in 1918, the peak
Vera peaked in 1918, when 3,934 babies were given it (3,923 girls, #68 among girls’ names). The 1,482 births of 2025 are 38% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1,482 | #205 | 0.92 |
| 2024 | 1,355 | #226 | 0.84 |
| 2023 | 1,333 | #224 | 0.83 |
| 2022 | 1,339 | #224 | 0.82 |
| 2021 | 1,310 | #229 | 0.80 |
| 2020 | 1,221 | #246 | 0.76 |
| 2019 | 1,284 | #253 | 0.77 |
| 2018 | 1,264 | #257 | 0.74 |
| 2017 | 1,160 | #280 | 0.67 |
| 2016 | 1,059 | #308 | 0.60 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,054 | #311 | 0.59 |
| 2014 | 891 | #365 | 0.50 |
| 2013 | 721 | #423 | 0.41 |
| 2012 | 615 | #498 | 0.35 |
| 2011 | 573 | #512 | 0.33 |
| 2010 | 431 | #673 | 0.24 |
| 2009 | 306 | #897 | 0.17 |
| 2008 | 254 | #1,034 | 0.13 |
| 2007 | 208 | #1,210 | 0.11 |
| 2006 | 161 | #1,413 | 0.08 |
| 2005 | 154 | #1,399 | 0.08 |
| 2004 | 125 | #1,584 | 0.07 |
| 2003 | 101 | #1,842 | 0.06 |
| 2002 | 104 | #1,747 | 0.06 |
| 2001 | 96 | #1,846 | 0.05 |
| 2000 | 103 | #1,712 | 0.06 |
| 1999 | 64 | #2,336 | 0.04 |
| 1998 | 102 | #1,604 | 0.06 |
| 1997 | 66 | #2,133 | 0.04 |
| 1996 | 80 | #1,835 | 0.05 |
| 1995 | 64 | #2,118 | 0.04 |
| 1994 | 92 | #1,642 | 0.05 |
| 1993 | 103 | #1,526 | 0.06 |
| 1992 | 99 | #1,571 | 0.05 |
| 1991 | 98 | #1,567 | 0.05 |
| 1990 | 101 | #1,527 | 0.05 |
| 1989 | 104 | #1,431 | 0.06 |
| 1988 | 93 | #1,475 | 0.05 |
| 1987 | 108 | #1,297 | 0.06 |
| 1986 | 112 | #1,232 | 0.07 |
| 1985 | 129 | #1,127 | 0.07 |
| 1984 | 127 | #1,097 | 0.08 |
| 1983 | 147 | #992 | 0.09 |
| 1982 | 166 | #913 | 0.10 |
| 1981 | 164 | #919 | 0.10 |
| 1980 | 161 | #933 | 0.10 |
| 1979 | 177 | #874 | 0.11 |
| 1978 | 164 | #891 | 0.11 |
| 1977 | 184 | #818 | 0.12 |
| 1976 | 183 | #784 | 0.12 |
| 1975 | 219 | #686 | 0.15 |
| 1974 | 194 | #737 | 0.13 |
| 1973 | 225 | #663 | 0.15 |
| 1972 | 252 | #618 | 0.17 |
| 1971 | 296 | #590 | 0.18 |
| 1970 | 364 | #525 | 0.21 |
| 1969 | 357 | #520 | 0.21 |
| 1968 | 388 | #495 | 0.24 |
| 1967 | 461 | #439 | 0.28 |
| 1966 | 454 | #441 | 0.27 |
| 1965 | 534 | #402 | 0.30 |
| 1964 | 639 | #381 | 0.34 |
| 1963 | 707 | #358 | 0.37 |
| 1962 | 730 | #351 | 0.37 |
| 1961 | 862 | #322 | 0.43 |
| 1960 | 900 | #314 | 0.45 |
| 1959 | 970 | #291 | 0.48 |
| 1958 | 978 | #285 | 0.49 |
| 1957 | 1,050 | #269 | 0.51 |
| 1956 | 1,150 | #245 | 0.57 |
| 1955 | 1,170 | #236 | 0.60 |
| 1954 | 1,219 | #231 | 0.63 |
| 1953 | 1,192 | #231 | 0.63 |
| 1952 | 1,091 | #239 | 0.59 |
| 1951 | 1,110 | #231 | 0.62 |
| 1950 | 1,111 | #227 | 0.65 |
| 1949 | 1,114 | #221 | 0.65 |
| 1948 | 1,149 | #216 | 0.68 |
| 1947 | 1,218 | #213 | 0.69 |
| 1946 | 1,206 | #200 | 0.77 |
| 1945 | 1,143 | #179 | 0.87 |
| 1944 | 1,188 | #184 | 0.90 |
| 1943 | 1,266 | #180 | 0.91 |
| 1942 | 1,317 | #174 | 1.0 |
| 1941 | 1,266 | #170 | 1.0 |
| 1940 | 1,322 | #159 | 1.2 |
| 1939 | 1,411 | #153 | 1.3 |
| 1938 | 1,412 | #156 | 1.3 |
| 1937 | 1,496 | #150 | 1.4 |
| 1936 | 1,513 | #142 | 1.5 |
| 1935 | 1,813 | #124 | 1.7 |
| 1934 | 1,837 | #127 | 1.8 |
| 1933 | 1,865 | #121 | 1.9 |
| 1932 | 2,023 | #121 | 1.9 |
| 1931 | 2,161 | #111 | 2.0 |
| 1930 | 2,492 | #104 | 2.2 |
| 1929 | 2,549 | #99 | 2.3 |
| 1928 | 2,841 | #92 | 2.5 |
| 1927 | 2,942 | #89 | 2.5 |
| 1926 | 3,152 | #84 | 2.7 |
| 1925 | 3,280 | #86 | 2.7 |
| 1924 | 3,476 | #85 | 2.8 |
| 1923 | 3,375 | #82 | 2.8 |
| 1922 | 3,510 | #79 | 2.9 |
| 1921 | 3,631 | #76 | 2.9 |
| 1920 | 3,785 | #75 | 3.2 |
| 1919 | 3,848 | #65 | 3.4 |
| 1918 | 3,923 | #68 | 3.4 |
| 1917 | 3,714 | #66 | 3.4 |
| 1916 | 3,622 | #66 | 3.5 |
| 1915 | 3,460 | #65 | 3.5 |
| 1914 | 2,683 | #68 | 3.5 |
| 1913 | 2,209 | #68 | 3.5 |
| 1912 | 1,974 | #68 | 3.5 |
| 1911 | 1,510 | #67 | 3.6 |
| 1910 | 1,346 | #71 | 3.4 |
| 1909 | 1,242 | #67 | 3.6 |
| 1908 | 1,204 | #68 | 3.6 |
| 1907 | 1,152 | #69 | 3.6 |
| 1906 | 1,083 | #68 | 3.7 |
| 1905 | 1,053 | #71 | 3.6 |
| 1904 | 993 | #71 | 3.6 |
| 1903 | 899 | #75 | 3.4 |
| 1902 | 947 | #73 | 3.6 |
| 1901 | 860 | #73 | 3.6 |
| 1900 | 1,024 | #76 | 3.4 |
| 1899 | 864 | #69 | 3.7 |
| 1898 | 876 | #73 | 3.4 |
| 1897 | 776 | #73 | 3.3 |
| 1896 | 675 | #81 | 2.8 |
| 1895 | 729 | #77 | 3.1 |
| 1894 | 618 | #86 | 2.8 |
| 1893 | 534 | #91 | 2.5 |
| 1892 | 486 | #99 | 2.3 |
| 1891 | 426 | #98 | 2.3 |
| 1890 | 393 | #103 | 2.1 |
| 1889 | 313 | #122 | 1.8 |
| 1888 | 263 | #132 | 1.5 |
| 1887 | 167 | #151 | 1.1 |
| 1886 | 167 | #148 | 1.2 |
| 1885 | 124 | #166 | 0.93 |
| 1884 | 91 | #197 | 0.71 |
| 1883 | 77 | #193 | 0.69 |
| 1882 | 67 | #204 | 0.62 |
| 1881 | 48 | #226 | 0.52 |
| 1880 | 48 | #225 | 0.53 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Vera a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Vera has been given almost only to girls: 398 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Vera: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Vera, and how old are they?
47,800 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 32% of the 149,854 Americans ever recorded as Vera. The median Vera alive today is 59 years old; half are between 10 and 75.
The 2020 Census counted 55,795 people named Vera (55,665 women and girls, 130 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 49,232 born in the U.S. The Census count is 13% above 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 | 7,730 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 15,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 4,240 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,730 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 3,430 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 15,400 |
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 Vera born?
The states with the most babies named Vera are Texas, New York and Pennsylvania, with 18% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 8,704 | #406 | 1.1× |
| New York | 7,713 | #197 | 0.7× |
| Pennsylvania | 6,926 | #159 | 0.7× |
| Illinois | 6,475 | #173 | 0.9× |
| California | 6,355 | #273 | 0.9× |
| Ohio | 5,677 | #161 | 0.9× |
| Georgia | 5,393 | #230 | 1.3× |
| Alabama | 5,135 | #368 | 1.5× |
| North Carolina | 4,347 | #249 | 1.0× |
| Michigan | 4,325 | #140 | 0.9× |
Where Vera is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Vera is most over-represented in Mississippi: since 1910 it was given 1.6 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 girls’ 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 Vera with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 151,062 babies since 1880, Vera is the most given (99% of them). In 2025 it was given to 1,482 of their 1,554 babies (95%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Vera
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 Vera and names like it
- Compare Vera and VeeraBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1910sVera peaked in 1918.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Vera since 1910.
- Russian namesWiktionary’s origin for Vera: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1918The year the most babies were named Vera.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Vera alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with VMost given first.