Valda
Feminine · “rule”
This name is a feminine of an element rather than of a name. The Germanic piece meaning rule closes a long list of men's names — Ronald, Oswald, Harold, Reynold — and Valda takes it on its own, with nothing in front, and adds a feminine ending directly to the bare word.
How old is the name Valda?
Valda first appears in US birth records in 1897 — 128 years ago. The typical Valda alive today was born around 1936, making them about 89 years old. About 800 people named Valda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Valda most popular?
Valda peaked in 1910, reaching #1069 nationally. See the whole 1910 chart.
Where it comes from
From wald to Valda
The story of Valda
There are two Germanic elements that look identical in modern spelling and are different words. One means to rule, and it is the one in these names; the other means a forest, and it is the one in the German word Wald and in a great many place names. They fell together as the languages changed, so a name and a woodland can now be spelled the same way while descending from entirely separate roots. Etymological dictionaries have to keep them apart with numbers, and popular name pages regularly do not, which is why a name meaning rule is so often glossed as forest.
Meaning
rule, power
The Germanic element is well attested and its sense is not in dispute. What is unusual is finding it standing alone: it is almost always the second half of a compound and almost never a name by itself.
How the name formed
- wald
- Valda
Related forms: Valda
Pronouncing Valda
VAL-duh
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The spelling is unambiguous and nobody meeting it hesitates.
Nicknames for Valda
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1897
- Most girls named
- 195852 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1069reached in 1910
- Change vs 1976
- 0.0%6 in 1982, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Valda in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Valda in Latvian — same name
Valdas among us
people named Valda are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Valda sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Val sits inside it as a short form that works in any register.
- The meaning is strong and unusually direct for a woman's name of its era.
- It is short, brisk and never needs repeating.
- It is regularly glossed as forest, which is a different word entirely.
- Velda and Valda are both in use and get confused.
- The generation that used it is now very old.
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Valda
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Valdas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Valda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Valda in 2025?
- Valda is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Valda with classmates?
- Valda will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More V names
The most-given names starting with V, all years combined.
Virginia#525 · Victoria#54 · Valerie#127 · Vanessa#377 · Vivian#70 · Veronica#427 · Violet#13 · Vicki
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Valda? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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