Vesper
The name of Latin origin meaning "evening" or "evening star".
Name Census estimates that about 790 living Americans carry the first name Vesper. It is a predominantly female name (92.9% of registrations). The average person named Vesper today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Vesper births was 2023 (89 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Vesper. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Vesper with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
790
~ 1 in 433,866 Americans
Peak year
2023
89 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,789
Tracked since 1902
Census
Vesper in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 605 people with the first name Vesper, which placed it at #17,970 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
#17,970
National first-name rank
People counted
605
605 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Vesper
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vesper is White at 69.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (10.4%) and Hispanic (9.3%). 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 Vesper 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 Vesper at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.4% · 420
- Two or more races10.4% · 63
- Hispanic or Latino9.3% · 56
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.0% · 36
- Black or African American4.6% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Vesper
Vesper leans heavily female at 92.9% of total registrations, but 66 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Vesper as a male name
- Ranked #7,199 in 2024
- 12 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (12 births)
Vesper as a female name
- Ranked #2,789 in 2024
- 61 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (82 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vesper leans strongly female. 545 people counted with this name were female (90.8%), compared with 55 male bearers (9.2%).
Popularity
Vesper: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Vesper from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 430 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Vesper remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Vesper 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 Vesper during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Vespers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Vesper, while Virginia, Washington, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 35 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Vesper
The name Vesper is a feminine given name derived from the Latin word "vesper" meaning "evening" or "evening star." It has its roots in ancient Roman culture and was initially used as a name for the planet Venus, which appears as the brightest celestial object in the evening sky.
The name Vesper was associated with the Roman goddess of beauty and love, Venus, who was also known as Hesperus or the Evening Star. The ancient Romans held the evening star in high regard, and it was often celebrated in poetry and literature as a symbol of beauty, love, and the transition from day to night.
In ancient texts, the name Vesper can be found in works such as Ovid's Metamorphoses and Virgil's Aeneid, where it is used to refer to the evening star or the personification of the evening itself. The name also appears in early Christian writings, where it was sometimes used to represent the evening prayer service or Vespers.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Vesper as a personal name dates back to the 16th century. Vesper Jovius, an Italian Renaissance scholar and physician, was born in 1522 and is known for his contributions to the field of medicine and his writings on the history of his time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Vesper, including:
1. Vesper Leah Bat Chayil (1865-1934), an American author and educator who was a pioneer in the field of Jewish education for women.
2. Vesper Lincoln Simons (1876-1924), an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives.
3. Vesper Stamper (born 1980), an American author and illustrator known for her young adult novels and children's books.
4. Vesper Hubert Meridith (1848-1919), an American lawyer and politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives.
5. Vesper Holly (1919-1987), an American actress and singer who appeared in several Broadway productions and films during the 1940s and 1950s.
These individuals, spanning different eras and professions, exemplify the enduring appeal and use of the name Vesper, which continues to evoke the beauty and mystery of the evening star.
People
Vesper + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Vesper 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
Vesper: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Vesper?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 790 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Vesper 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 433,866 US residents.
Is Vesper a common name?
We classify Vesper as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 925 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Vesper most popular?
The single biggest year for Vesper was 2023, when 89 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Vesper is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Vesper in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 605 people with the name Vesper, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,970 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 Vesper 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 Vesper?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Vesper leans strongly female. 545 people counted with this name were female (90.8%), compared with 55 male bearers (9.2%). 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 Vesper?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Vesper is White at 69.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (10.4%) and Hispanic (9.3%). 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 Vesper most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Vesper in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.4% (420 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 Vesper in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Vesper a female name?
Yes, 92.9% of people registered as Vesper in the SSA data are female. 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 Vesper still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Vesper 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 Vesper 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 Vesper?
See how many people have the name Vesper on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.