Vena
Feminine
Vena is a Latin word before it is a name, and that is the first thing an educated reader sees: a vein, the word behind venous and intravenous. Whether any family meant that is doubtful, and the name has at least two other plausible parents.
How old is the name Vena?
Vena was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Vena alive today was born around 1923, making them about 102 years old. About 800 people named Vena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Vena most popular?
Vena peaked in 1898, reaching #491 nationally. See the whole 1898 chart.
Where it comes from
From Verena to Vena
The story of Vena
One of the possible parents is a real saint with a real cult. Verena is venerated in Switzerland, where she is said to have come north with a Roman legion from Egypt, survived the massacre that killed it, and settled at Zurzach as a hermit who cared for the sick; her shrine there is among the oldest continuously used in the country. The name went into German and Swiss use and traveled to America with those families. Vena appears in American records from the first year of the count, and whether it is her name shortened or something else entirely, the record does not say.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Latin word for a vein is a coincidence rather than a source. The name can be cut from Verena, from Ravenna or from Juanita, and nothing in the record distinguishes them.
How the name formed
- Verena
- Vena
Related forms: Verena
Pronouncing Vena
VEE-nuh
Two syllables with the weight at the front. Some families use VAY-nuh, following the German, and both are heard.
Nicknames for Vena
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 192067 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #491reached in 1898
- Change vs 2019
- −30.0%7 in 2024, from 10
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.
Vena in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Verena in German — related form
Venas among us
people named Vena 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
Vena 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
- Four letters, two syllables, and nothing that has to be explained.
- It sits comfortably in front of almost any surname.
- It has an unbroken run in American records from the first year they were kept.
- It shares its spelling with an anatomical term, and medical readers will notice.
- Its parentage is genuinely unsettled, so its history has to come from the family.
- It reads clearly as a name of the nineteenth century.
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Vena
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Venas 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 Vena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Vena in 2025?
- Vena is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Vena with classmates?
- Vena 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 Vena? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Vena and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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