Val

Where Val comes from

The dictionaries list Val as a given name — a male given name, a short form of Valentine and Valerius — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1882
    First appearance
    #943 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1923
    Val Logsdon Fitch born
    American physicist
  3. 1952
    Peak, #523
    178 babies named Val — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1959
    Val Kilmer born
    American actor
  5. 1961
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #813.
  6. 1962
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name, a short form of Valentine and Valerius.
  • A female given name, a short form of Valerie and Valmai.
Namesakes
  • Val Kilmer · American actor, 1959–2025
  • Val Logsdon Fitch · American physicist, 1923–2015
  • Val McDermid · Scottish crime writer, born 1955
  • Val Demings · American politician in Florida, born 1957
  • Val Avery · American actor, 1924–2009

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.