Humanverse

Vernen vs Veronica

American parents have registered 224,609 Veronicas since 1880, against 7 Vernens. Veronica is still ahead, with 730 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

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

Vernen 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 1924, when Vernen had 7 and Veronica had 954.

Side by side

  Vernen Veronica
Total US births 7224,609
Most in one year 74,407
Babies in 2025 under 5730
Estimated living today 0185,000
Median age today 10144
Peak year 19241980
Best rank 3,505th boys70th girls
Rank in 2025 unranked427th
First recorded 19241880
Girls / boys 0 / 7223,775 / 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 Vernens alive today are over 101; half the Veronicas are over 44. That is 57 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: Vernen and Veronica.