Humanverse

Vernadean vs Veronica

American parents have registered 224,609 Veronicas since 1880, against 26 Vernadeans. Veronica is still ahead, with 730 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Vernadean against Veronica, 1880 to 2025 0 1.3k 2.5k 3.8k 5k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Vernadean Veronica

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

Veronica has been the commoner name in every year either was published, 1880 to 2025. The lead has never changed hands.

The closest they came was 1925, when Vernadean had 8 and Veronica had 826.

Side by side

  Vernadean Veronica
Total US births 26224,609
Most in one year 84,407
Babies in 2025 under 5730
Estimated living today 13185,000
Median age today 7944
Peak year 19251980
Best rank 3,664th girls70th girls
Rank in 2025 unranked427th
First recorded 19251880
Girls / boys 26 / 0223,775 / 834

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 Vernadeans alive today are over 79; half the Veronicas are over 44. That is 35 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: Vernadean and Veronica.