Valor
Derived from the Latin word for "valor" or "bravery."
Name Census estimates that about 1,488 living Americans carry the first name Valor. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Valor today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Valor births was 2020 (153 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Valor. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Valor is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 8 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 230,346 Americans
Peak year
2020
153 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,463
Tracked since 1988
Census
Valor in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 819 people with the first name Valor, which placed it at #14,409 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#14,409
National first-name rank
People counted
819
819 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Valor
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Valor is White at 61.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.3%) and Two or More Races (11.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Valor described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Valor at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.9% · 507
- Hispanic or Latino13.3% · 109
- Two or more races11.1% · 91
- Black or African American9.8% · 80
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Valor
Valor leans heavily male at 88.9% of total registrations, but 167 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Valor as a male name
- Ranked #1,463 in 2024
- 124 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (134 births)
Valor as a female name
- Ranked #7,545 in 2024
- 15 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (20 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Valor leans strongly male. 706 people counted with this name were male (86.5%), compared with 110 female bearers (13.5%).
Popularity
Valor: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Valor from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 716 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Valor by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Valor during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Valors live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Valor, while Washington, Virginia, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Valor
The name Valor originates from the Late Latin word "valor" which means "worth, vigor, or courage." It first emerged in the Romance languages of Europe in the late Middle Ages, around the 13th or 14th century. The name has strong associations with bravery, strength, and valiant deeds.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Valor dates back to the 14th century, when it was used as a surname for a knight or soldier who exhibited exceptional valor in battle. In 1374, a knight named Valor de Valencia was mentioned in the chronicles of the Kingdom of Aragon for his heroic actions during a military campaign.
During the Renaissance period, the name Valor gained popularity among the nobility and upper classes, who often named their sons with virtuous names that reflected their aspirations for valor and courage. In Italy, the humanist scholar and poet Valor Borghese (1490-1556) was a well-known figure in the court of Pope Leo X.
In England, the name Valor was occasionally used during the 16th and 17th centuries, although it was relatively uncommon. One notable bearer of the name was Valor Browne (1585-1659), an English lawyer and member of Parliament during the reign of King Charles I.
In the 19th century, the name Valor gained some popularity in France, where it was associated with the ideals of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Valor Hugo (1802-1885), a French poet and dramatist who was the son of the renowned writer Victor Hugo.
Another notable figure named Valor was Valor Pérez (1865-1936), a Spanish military officer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor-General of the Spanish West Indies in the early 20th century.
While the name Valor has never been extremely common, it has maintained a presence throughout history, particularly in cultures where valor and bravery were highly esteemed virtues. The name's strong and inspiring meaning has ensured its enduring appeal across various regions and time periods.
People
Valor + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Valor as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with V
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Valor: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Valor?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,488 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Valor going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 230,346 US residents.
Is Valor a common name?
We classify Valor as "Rare". It ranks above 92.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,499 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Valor most popular?
The single biggest year for Valor was 2020, when 153 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Valor is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Valor in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 819 people with the name Valor, or 0.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,409 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Valor in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Valor?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Valor leans strongly male. 706 people counted with this name were male (86.5%), compared with 110 female bearers (13.5%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Valor?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Valor is White at 61.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.3%) and Two or More Races (11.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Valor most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Valor in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.9% (507 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Valor in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Valor a male name?
Yes, 88.9% of people registered as Valor in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Valor still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Valor in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Valor can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Valor?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.