Vermell
Feminine
Vermell is one of the made names of the early-century South, and no source records what was in the mind of the family that first wrote it down. It looks like several words without being any of them, which is the usual condition of names built rather than inherited.
How old is the name Vermell?
Vermell first appears in US birth records in 1908 — 117 years ago. The typical Vermell alive today was born around 1934, making them about 91 years old. About 300 people named Vermell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Vermell most popular?
Vermell peaked in 1932, reaching #1597 nationally. See the whole 1932 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Vermell
A name can be assembled out of pieces that look like words and mean nothing, and the history of place names shows this is not a modern habit. Vermont was put together at a convention during the Revolution, and the usual account credits a physician named Thomas Young with proposing it, built from the French for green and the French for mountain. The trouble is that the pieces are in the wrong order: French would say mont vert, and the name says the opposite. Nobody corrected it, and the state has carried a slightly ungrammatical French label ever since. Vermell belongs to the same kind of making. A family heard a shape they liked, wrote it on a form, and it became a real name for real people without ever having been a word.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No documented origin exists. The obvious guesses — the Catalan word for red, the French vermeil for gilded silver, a shortening of a longer name — all rest on resemblance alone, and none of them explains why the name appears where and when it does.
Pronouncing Vermell
ver-MELL
Two syllables with the stress at the back, which is unusual for a woman's name of that period and part of what makes it memorable.
Nicknames for Vermell
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
- 1908
- Most girls named
- 192625 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1597reached in 1932
- Change vs 1966
- 0.0%5 in 1977, from 5
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.
Vermells among us
people named Vermell 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
Vermell 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
- It is genuinely distinctive: almost nobody else will have it.
- The spelling follows English rules, so it is written correctly once it has been heard.
- Mell works straightforwardly as a short form.
- There is no meaning to give when the question is asked, and the question always comes.
- It reads as belonging to a particular generation, and to that generation's South.
- Vermelle and Vermel are both in the record and will be confused with it.
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Vermell
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Vermells are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Vermell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Vermell in 2025?
- Vermell is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Vermell with classmates?
- Vermell 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 Vermell? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Vermell and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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