Valinda
Feminine
Valinda opens with a letter that no native English word starts with. Every v-word in the language is a borrowing — very, voice, village, victory, vine — because Old English used the letter f for that sound and wrote no v at all. The whole v section of an English dictionary is imported goods.
How old is the name Valinda?
Valinda first appears in US birth records in 1942 — 83 years ago. The typical Valinda alive today was born around 1959, making them about 66 years old. About 1,200 people named Valinda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Valinda most popular?
Valinda peaked in 1954, reaching #806 nationally. See the whole 1954 chart.
Where it comes from
From A back element with a contested origin to Valinda
Our story of Valinda
The back half had a song written for it, which is rarer than it sounds. A New York songwriter wrote it in the middle of the nineteen forties and named it after the small daughter of his lawyer; the recording that followed went to the top of the charts, and the name it carried spent the next fifteen years near the top of the American registers. The child grew up, became a photographer, married a musician, and is now remembered for entirely different reasons. Songs name children constantly and almost never leave a trace of who they were about; this one has a documented dedication, an identifiable subject, and a name that was already rising when the song arrived and rose faster afterwards.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source can be established. The back half is a name in its own right with a contested etymology of its own, and the front may be a clipping of any of several names or simply a syllable. A compound built from an unidentified front and a disputed back cannot be given a reading.
How the name formed
- A back element with a contested origin
- A song carrying that name in the nineteen forties
- American families building compounds on it
- Valinda in the registers from the nineteen forties
Pronouncing Valinda
vuh-LIN-duh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle and the first reduced almost to nothing. That reduction is why the first vowel can be written with an a or an e without any audible difference.
Nicknames for Valinda
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
- 1942
- Most girls named
- 1954136 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #806reached in 1954
- Change vs 1993
- −16.7%5 in 1997, 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.
Valindas among us
people named Valinda 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
Valinda 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 and Linda are two complete names available from one certificate.
- The sound is transparent and nobody will need it repeated.
- The rhythm is even and the name carries well when said in full.
- Velinda and Valynda are also in use and will be written for it.
- No meaning can be given, on either half of the name.
- It is firmly of the middle of the twentieth century.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Valinda
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Valindas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,200 people named Valinda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Valinda in 2025?
- Valinda is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Valinda with classmates?
- Valinda 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 Valinda? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Valinda and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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