Vera

What Vera means

Means “faith”

Borrowed in the nineteenth century from the Russian virtue name Ве́ра (Véra, “faith”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Vera” (revision 94544462), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Vera?

US: Rising: up from #310 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #1139 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1899, when 864 girls got the name (#69 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,085 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 4,966 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NH (4.21 per 1,000 girls), ME (3.21 per 1,000 girls), AK (3.02 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Vera is #205 in the US and #719 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Vera were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the UK pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Veera65 US · 12 E&W
• Vira26 US · 5 E&W
• Vara9 US · 4 E&W
• Feyra10 US
• Fara6 US · 3 E&W
• Fira6 US
• Vyra6 US
• Verah6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Vera

Girls

• Ivanna#566Same root as Jane, meaning “God is gracious”^*
• Mila#43Editor’s note Up from #53 in 2015 to #43 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 340 US girls in the 2025 records
• Milena#950“dear, kind”^*
• Milan#751Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1969, with 8 babies
• Lana#406Form of Elon, meaning “oak tree”^*
• Lara#691Icelandic, from Latin Laura, meaning “laurel tree”^*

For a brother

• Milan#242Editor’s note Used for both: 80% of US babies named Milan in 2025 were boys
• Luka#85Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #85 vs #261 in 2025
• Damir#980Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1974, with 6 babies
• Ira#819“watchful”^*
• Ivan#162Same root as John, possibly meaning “God is gracious”^*
• Everett#77Same root as Everard, meaning “wild boar + hard, brave”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Slavic where there are enough, topped up with common names whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Vera’s. Place names are only included if they are in the top 300. Rank is US 2025.