Fun Facts About the Name Vale
- 539 babies named Vale: U.S. records list 539 babies given the name Vale from 1880 through 2025. Even 199 boys received the name Vale - about 1 boy for every 2 girls.
What Does the Name Vale Mean?
Vale is an English word name meaning "valley." The noun entered Middle English from Old French val, which descends from Latin vallis, "valley." The same Latin root produced the everyday valley words of other Romance languages, among them Italian valle, Spanish valle, and Portuguese vale, so the word can also serve as a personal name in those languages without borrowing from English.
Latin vale is a separate word that happens to be spelled the same way. It is the imperative of valēre, "to be strong, to be well," and means "farewell." English writers have used "vale" in that sense as a literary goodbye, but it is not related in meaning to the valley word and does not give the name a "farewell" sense.
Vale is sometimes treated as a short form of names beginning with Val-, such as Valerie, Valeria, and Valentina. In that use it works as a nickname and has no separate etymology of its own.
Vale Name History & Origins
In medieval England vale was an ordinary word for a valley, used in prose and verse and in set phrases; the expression "vale of tears" echoes the Latin vallis lacrimarum of the Salve Regina. From this landscape word came the English surname Vale, formed in the usual way for topographic surnames, alongside the fuller form Atte Vale, "at the valley." The surname is found in England from the Middle Ages onward, and spellings such as Vail also occur, though not every bearer of a similar-looking surname necessarily descends from the valley word.
The word also persists in English place names, for example Vale Royal in Cheshire and the Vale of Glamorgan in Wales, the latter an English rendering of the Welsh Bro Morgannwg.
Vale as a first name is a later and much less common development than the surname. It is best explained either as a transferred surname or as a direct use of the noun, and both routes lead back to the same "valley" sense. It belongs with the wider group of English surnames and nature words that were adopted as given names.
The Latin farewell vale has a separate history in English letters. It was common on Roman gravestones and closes Catullus's poem 101 with the line "ave atque vale," "hail and farewell"; Tennyson borrowed the phrase for his 1883 poem "Frater Ave atque Vale." That literary use belongs to the Latin interjection, not to the personal name.
How Popular is the Name Vale?
Vale has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2016. Its best rank was #3,319 in 2016.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #8,323 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 2024 | #6,886 | 17 | 0.0011% |
| 2023 | #8,942 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2022 | #5,009 | 27 | 0.0016% |
| 2021 | #6,391 | 19 | 0.0012% |
| 2020 | #4,251 | 33 | 0.0020% |
| 2019 | #4,335 | 33 | 0.0020% |
| 2018 | #4,450 | 32 | 0.0019% |
| 2017 | #4,376 | 33 | 0.0019% |
| 2016 | #3,319 | 49 | 0.0028% |
| 2015 | #3,588 | 44 | 0.0025% |
| 2014 | #9,485 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 1961 | #7,479 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1950 | #5,264 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1917 | #5,260 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #5,831 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2024 | #8,243 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2023 | #8,860 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2022 | #7,720 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2021 | #8,112 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2020 | #6,262 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2019 | #7,593 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2018 | #9,606 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2017 | #9,624 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2016 | #12,075 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2015 | #7,461 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2014 | #8,737 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2012 | #14,104 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2011 | #9,544 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1998 | #11,240 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1984 | #6,279 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1969 | #5,004 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1965 | #4,403 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1962 | #4,599 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1955 | #4,366 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1954 | #3,799 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1925 | #3,382 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1923 | #3,799 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1919 | #4,132 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1917 | #4,551 | 5 | 0.0005% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Vale Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You are fixed in your opinions, firm in your friendships and square in your dealings with others. You are an excellent worker. Since you are both possessive and emotional, you can be either very practical or very impractical and unpredictable. Your dual nature needs to become steadfast. You are the marrying kind. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Dependable, very down-to-earth and well grounded, you are always looking for meaningful work, a career where you can take pride in your work and do the best job you are capable of. Your prime desire is to build protected and secure environment at home and at work. You can be very persuasive in achieving goals and gaining objectives. You can be very detailed and well-organized and possess great organizational skills. At times you may appear too stubborn and overly critical to others, but your practical approach to life and productivity makes you one of the most beneficent members of community.
✦ Vale's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Vale's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.