Name Awesome

Valentine

#1,807 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Valentine has been given to 8,950 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #1,807 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1918, with 142 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 75% boys, 25% girls all-time.

Babies named Valentine, 2025

1 in 37,200

Valentine over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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 — Valentine over time

In 2025, Valentine went to 44% girls and 56% boys.

18802025

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.

Valentine: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Latin

What Valentine means

Valentine has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Valentine

One of the source’s documented entries for Valentine records a meaning of strong, vigorous, healthy.

A separate documented entry treats Valentine as a feminine form of Valentinus. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Latin Valentīnus, a patronymic from Valēns (Roman cognomen), itself nominalized from vālens (“strong, healthy”) + -īnus (“-ine”). Doublet of Valentinus, Valentino, Valentina, and Valentini.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Valentine (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Valentine is used in English and French. Its origins include Latin.

Valentine comes through Latin Valentīnus.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Valentin, Valentinus, Valentino and Valentina.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Valentine is pronounced /ˈvæləntaɪn/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 6,711 boys were recorded with the name Valentine between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 142 in 1918; its best national rank was #366 in 1894.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #2,543 in 2020 to #1,807 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #3,584 in 2015 to #1,807 in 2025.

In the United States, 2,239 girls were recorded with the name Valentine between 1885 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 70 in 2025; its best national rank was #743 in 1885.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #3,444 in 2020 to #2,539 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #3,756 in 2015 to #2,539 in 2025.

How common is Valentine?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 37,200
89 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 19,200
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,807
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
25,820 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Valentine sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

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 5001%

Put another way: gather 25,820 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Valentine. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Valentines were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Valentine was born before 1940 — so the typical Valentine is around 85 today.

Median birth year
1940
About 85 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
17.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
15.6%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
2,837
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 17.0% of all recorded uses (1,143).

Is Valentine 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
+667
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+736
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+1,777
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
2.87×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
62.7%
Peak was 1918 (142)
Years since peak
107
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
26.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#366
1894

Spellings of Valentine

Valentine is not the most common spelling — Valentino is, with 36.7% against Valentine's 20.9%.

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 Valentine is used — boys

Across 2016–2025, Valentine was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 16,667 boys, against 1 in 30,410 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in 100,000).

16 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 16,667
  2. 2Nevada1 in 25,000
  3. 3Arizona1 in 33,333
  4. 4New York1 in 33,333
  5. 5Texas1 in 33,333
  6. 6Colorado1 in 50,000
  7. 7Indiana1 in 50,000
  8. 8Florida1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys 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.

Where Valentine is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Valentine was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 215,568 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2Florida1 in —
  3. 3Illinois1 in —
  4. 4Massachusetts1 in —
  5. 5New York1 in —
  6. 6Pennsylvania1 in —
  7. 7Texas1 in —
  8. 8Washington1 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. Valentine has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Valentine around the world

Where Valentine 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.

  • England & Wales
    1998–2025
    #1,798
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    1964–2024
    #655
    in 2024
  • France
    1925–1925
    #1,019
    in 1925
  • South Australia
    1944–2008
    #726
    in 2008

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Valentine in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Valentine. Linked forms have their own page here.

ValValentinValentinaAlevtinaValentynValancinaValentijnValyantsin

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Valentine by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,807
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 736
Best rank ever
#366
1894
Peak year
1918
142 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
6,711
Count in 2025
89

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#2,539
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 905
Best rank ever
#743
1885
Peak year
2025
70 that year
First recorded
1885
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,239
Count in 2025
70

Names similar to Valentine

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

ValentinoValentinAugustineTremaineValdemarValenteConstantineGermaineTramaineValerianCarmineChristineKatherineCatherineBenjamineJermaineValerioAntoinePeregrineJamaineJosephineValorAgustineValen

Names with a curve like Valentine

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Valentine, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

EmileWaltonRupertOswaldMerrittOranOlenWilberHarlandMahlonHendersonOmer

Sibling names for Valentine

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 Valentine

Top names of 1918, Valentine's peak yearThe 1910s in fullOther names that peaked in 1894Boys' names starting with V