Valerio
Masculine · “Strong”
Valerio is the Italian and Spanish for the Roman family name Valerius, and the root is one of the plainest good words Latin has: valere, to be strong, to be well, to be worth something. It is the same root as valiant, value and valid.
How old is the name Valerio?
Valerio first appears in US birth records in 1920 — 105 years ago. The typical Valerio alive today was born around 2000, making them about 25 years old. About 400 people named Valerio are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Valerio most popular?
Valerio peaked in 1955, reaching #2558 nationally. Today it ranks #5208, 2,650 places below that high. See the whole 1955 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Valerius to Valerio
The story of Valerio
The gens Valeria was one of the oldest patrician families of Rome, claiming descent from a Sabine who came to the city with Titus Tatius, and it supplied consuls for centuries. Christianity added several martyrs named Valerius, including a bishop of Zaragoza whose deacon was Saint Vincent. Italy and Spain carried Valerio steadily, and Romania has Valeriu. American records show it with Italian and Hispanic immigration through the twentieth century, with a modest peak in the 1950s. It has never been common in English-speaking countries, where the feminine Valerie has always been far more visible.
Meaning
Strong, healthy
From Latin Valerius, a Roman gens name from valere, to be strong or in good health. The reading is settled. The same root gives the feminine Valeria and Valerie, and the Latin farewell vale, be well.
How the name formed
- Valerius
- Valerio
Related forms: Valerio · Valerio · Valerius · Valeriu · Valery · Valère
Pronouncing Valerio
vah-LEH-ree-oh
Four syllables, stress on the second, in both Italian and Spanish. American speech compresses it to vuh-LEER-ee-oh.
Nicknames for Valerio
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
- 1920
- Most boys named
- 202428 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2558reached in 1955
- Change vs 2024
- −35.7%18 in 2025, from 28
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.
Valerio in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Valerio in Italian — same name
- Valerio in Spanish — same name
- Valerius in Latin — related form
- Valeriu in Romanian — related form
- Valery in Russian — related form
- Valère in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Valerios among us
people named Valerio are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 94,893 born in 2025 was named Valerio
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 Adger test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Valerio's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Adger climbed just as high around 1917, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Adger's path sketches the road Valerio is walking now.
Valerio 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
Valerio beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Valerio in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The Latin root is settled and its meaning is unusually good.
- Val and Rio are both easy short forms.
- It is spelled identically in Italian, Spanish and English.
- Valerie is far better known in America, and the name may be heard as feminine.
- Four syllables is long for American paperwork.
- It has never been common in English-speaking countries and will be unfamiliar.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Valerio 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 Valerio? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Valerio
Masculine · #5208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Valerios are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Valerio are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Valerio in 2025?
- Valerio ranks #5208 among US boy names in 2025, with 18 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Valerio?
- About 1 in every 94,893 US boys born in 2025 was named Valerio — 18 in all.
- Will my child share the name Valerio with classmates?
- Valerio will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Valerio
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rodger#5208 · Eusebio#5208 · Boy#5208 · Randal#5208 · Gable#5208 · Jessy#5208 · Kelby#5208 · Jens#5208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Valerio? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Valerio and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
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. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle