Valentin
Masculine · “strong”
Valentin comes from the Latin Valentinus, built on valere, to be strong — a name already worn by Romans before it was worn by saints. It has been in continuous use for something like seventeen centuries, and it travels: the same six letters work in French, German, Spanish, Romanian and Russian mouths with only the stress moving. In English it arrives with a familiar cousin, Valentine, so no one has to be taught how to read it.
How old is the name Valentin?
Valentin first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Valentin alive today was born around 2007, making them about 18 years old. About 10,500 people named Valentin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Valentin most popular?
Valentin peaked in 2007, reaching #614 nationally. Today it ranks #660, 46 places below that high. See the whole 2007 chart.
Valentin appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Valens to Valentin
The story of Valentin
The root is the Latin verb valere, to be strong or in good health; from it came the Roman cognomen Valens and its extended form Valentinus. That extended form was carried by Valentinus of Rome, the third-century martyr whose feast Pope Gelasius I placed on 14 February at the end of the fifth century, and the same root produced the fourth-century emperors named Valentinian. Chaucer, writing in the fourteenth century, tied St Valentine's day to the season when birds choose their mates, and the romantic holiday grew from there. The name itself went on quietly in Latin Christendom and became a plain everyday name in French, German, Spanish, Romanian, Russian and the Slavic languages — which is how it reaches American records today, most often through Spanish- and French-speaking families.
Meaning
strong, healthy, vigorous
From the Latin adjective valens, 'being strong', via the Roman name Valentinus.
How the name formed
- Valens
- Valentinus
- Valentine
- Valentin
Related forms: Valentine · Valentín · Valentino · Валентин · Walenty · Bálint
Pronouncing Valentin
VAL-en-teen
American English usually gives VAL-en-teen or VAL-en-tin. French says vah-lahn-TAN with a nasal ending and no final consonant; Spanish says bah-len-TEEN with the stress on the last syllable; German, VAH-len-teen. All are correct in their own language, so it helps to decide early which one your family uses.
Nicknames for Valentin
High
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
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 2025418 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #614reached in 2007
- Change vs 2023
- +11.8%418 in 2025, from 374
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.
Valentin in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Valentine in English — same name
- Valentín in Spanish — spelling variant
- Valentino in Italian — related form
- Валентин in Russian — transliteration
- Walenty in Polish — related form
- Bálint in Hungarian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida. INSEE rounds every published count to the nearest five for statistical confidentiality; the ranks are calculated from the exact figures. International figures from INSEE. Sources
Valentins among us
people named Valentin are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 4,086 born in 2025 was named Valentin
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Loran test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Valentin's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Loran climbed just as high around 1902, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Loran's path sketches the road Valentin is walking now.
Valentin sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Valentin is headed
Valentin should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Valentin beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Valentin in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Works unchanged in French, German, Spanish, Romanian and the Slavic languages — one spelling that crosses borders without translation.
- Has a ready-made short form in Val, plus Tino, Valya and Vali in other traditions.
- English speakers already recognize the letters through Valentine, so it is rarely misspelled beyond that one substitution.
- A documented record stretching back to Roman naming practice and the third-century martyr Valentinus.
- The Valentine's Day link is unavoidable, especially around February. For most bearers it amounts to occasional jokes rather than anything heavier, but it is there for life.
- Pronunciation shifts by language — VAL-en-teen, vah-lahn-TAN, bah-len-TEEN. He will be correcting people, or choosing not to, fairly often.
- Many English speakers will hear Valentine and write it that way. The final -e gets added on forms and email addresses more than you would expect.
- The feminine Valentina is well known in the US, so some people meeting the name in writing will assume a girl before they meet the child.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Valentin to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Valentin? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Valentin
Masculine · #660 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Valentins are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 10,500 people named Valentin are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Valentin in 2025?
- Valentin ranks #660 among US boy names in 2025, with 418 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Valentin?
- About 1 in every 4,086 US boys born in 2025 was named Valentin — 418 in all.
- Will my child share the name Valentin with classmates?
- Valentin will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Valentin
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Aries#661 · Lionel#659 · Layne#662 · Yosef#663 · Tommy#657 · Creed#663 · Jaime#657 · Mauricio#663
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Valentin? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Valentin and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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