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Vale

#8,321 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Wide river valley

Vale has been given to 539 babies in the U.S. since 1917. In 2025 it ranked #8,321 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2016, with 49 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 63% girls, 37% boys all-time.

Babies named Vale, 2025

1 in 255,000

Vale over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Vale over time

In 2025, Vale went to 45% girls and 55% boys.

19172025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Vale: meaning, origin, and history

Wide river valley

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Vale means

Vale means “wide river valley”.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 340 girls were recorded with the name Vale between 1917 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 49 in 2016; its best national rank was #3,320 in 2016.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #4,251 in 2020 to #8,321 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,590 in 2015 to #8,321 in 2025.

In the United States, 199 boys were recorded with the name Vale between 1917 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 16 in 2025; its best national rank was #3,380 in 1925.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #6,261 in 2020 to #5,829 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #7,456 in 2015 to #5,829 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

How common is Vale?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 255,000
13 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 124,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#8,321
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
176,762 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Vale sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 176,762 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Vale. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Vales were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Vale was born before 2018 — so the typical Vale is around 7 today.

Median birth year
2018
About 7 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
59.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
95.3%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
335
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 59.7% of all recorded uses (203).

Is Vale rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−1,411
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−4,070
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−4,731
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.30×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
26.5%
Peak was 2016 (49)
Years since peak
9
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
47.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#3,320
2016

Spellings of Vale

Vale is not the most common spelling — Jane is, with 25.6% against Vale's 0.02%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Vale is used

Across 1910–2025, Vale was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 1,089,218 across all states with data. It was least common in Illinois (1 in —).

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —
  2. 2Illinois1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Vale has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Vale around the world

Where Vale ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • Canada
    2019–2019
    #3,370
    in 2019
  • South Australia
    1946–1958
    #598
    in 1958

Popularity data from Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Vale by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#8,321
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 4,070
Best rank ever
#3,320
2016
Peak year
2016
49 that year
First recorded
1917
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
340
Count in 2025
13

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#5,829
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 432
Best rank ever
#3,380
1925
Peak year
2025
16 that year
First recorded
1917
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
199
Count in 2025
16

Names similar to Vale

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ValaValynValenValorValoryValliValoraValiValmaValiaValenaVallaValleyValynnValinaValeraValisaValleeValoriKaleValtaValedaValleryValeska

Sibling names for Vale

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Vale

Top names of 2016, Vale's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2016Girls' names starting with V