Laverne

Where Laverne comes from

19th-century invention, possibly from the Californian town La Verne, named in the belief that it means "the green" in French. Laverne is a genuine French surname, from Gaulish la verne "the alder (tree place)" but - as in the case of Leroy - there is no apparent reason to turn it into an American given name.
— Wiktionary's entry for Laverne
  • Vowel-ended
Laverne through the years
  1. 1885
    First appearance
    #842 among girls with 7 babies, the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1905
    Laverne Harding born
    American animator
  3. 1928
    Peak, #165
    1,293 babies named Laverne, its best rank.
  4. 1938
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births, down to #252.
  5. 1972
    Laverne Cox born
    American actress and LGBT advocate
  6. 2025
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name. From this year on, more girls have.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Laverne Cox · American actress and LGBT advocate, born 1972
  • Laverne Harding · American animator, 1905–1984
  • LaVerne Jeanne · American linguist, born 1953
  • Laverne Nelson Black · American painter, illustrator, and sculptor, 1887–1938

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.