# Val (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/val/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | not recorded |
| Pronunciation | /væl/, 1 syllable |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 7,406 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 5,657 / 1,749 (24% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | not in the ONS data |

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 24 | 2,535 |
| 1966 | 19 | 2,933 |
| 1967 | 16 | 3,326 |
| 1968 | 17 | 3,307 |
| 1969 | 13 | 4,186 |
| 1970 | 11 | 5,047 |
| 1971 | 11 | 5,119 |
| 1972 | 12 | 4,782 |
| 1973 | 9 | 6,058 |
| 1976 | 5 | 10,841 |
| 1980 | 6 | 10,341 |
| 1985 | 5 | 12,428 |
| 2022 | 6 | 15,167 |
| 2023 | 6 | 15,049 |
| 2024 | 6 | 15,121 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 8 | 9,628 |
| 2011 | 8 | 9,544 |
| 2012 | 7 | 10,688 |
| 2014 | 10 | 8,080 |
| 2015 | 13 | 6,652 |
| 2016 | 6 | 12,076 |
| 2017 | 12 | 7,068 |
| 2018 | 8 | 9,607 |
| 2019 | 10 | 8,164 |
| 2020 | 6 | 11,926 |
| 2021 | 10 | 8,116 |
| 2022 | 16 | 5,849 |
| 2023 | 19 | 5,241 |
| 2024 | 17 | 5,636 |
| 2025 | 22 | 4,692 |

## People named Val

- Val Kilmer, American actor (1959–2025)
- Val Logsdon Fitch, American physicist
- Val Demings, American politician in Florida (born 1957)
- Val Avery, American actor (1924–2009)
- Val Valentino, American magician
- Val Guest, British film director (1911–2006)
- Val Plumwood, Australian philosopher (1939–2008)
- Val Bettin, actor/Voice actor
- Val Bisoglio, American character actor (1926–2021)
- Val Paul, actor, Film director (1886-1962)
- Val Dufour, American actor (1927-2000)
- Val Hoyle, American politician

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.