Humanverse

Valarie vs Valena

American parents have registered 18,714 Valaries since 1880, against 684 Valenas. Valarie is still ahead, with 48 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Valarie against Valena, 1880 to 2025 0 200 400 600 800 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Valarie Valena

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 118 years in which either name was published, Valarie for 112 years and Valena for 6 years. The lead changed hands 5 times.

Side by side

  Valarie Valena
Total US births 18,714684
Most in one year 64121
Babies in 2025 4821
Estimated living today 16,000490
Median age today 5546
Peak year 19642025
Best rank 379th girls5,722nd girls
Rank in 2025 3,249th5,722nd
First recorded 19101907
Girls / boys 18,714 / 0684 / 0

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Valaries alive today are over 55; half the Valenas are over 46. That is 9 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Valarie and Valena.