Vernice
Feminine · “bringer of victory”
Vernice is given to both — 7,290 girls and 789 boys since 1880. See Vernice as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Vernice sits between two unrelated families and belongs to neither cleanly. Bernice is Greek and means she who brings victory. The Vern- names — Verna, Vernon, Vernell — come from a Latin word for spring. Change one letter of Bernice and the name lands in the middle, sounding like both.
How old is the name Vernice?
Vernice first appears in US birth records in 1887 — 138 years ago. The typical Vernice alive today was born around 1932, making them about 93 years old. About 2,600 people named Vernice are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Vernice most popular?
Vernice peaked in 1919, reaching #451 nationally. See the whole 1919 chart.
Where it comes from
From Pherenike to Vernice
The story of Vernice
Berenice was a Ptolemaic royal name in Egypt — several queens carried it — and one of them gave her name to a constellation, Coma Berenices, the hair of Berenice, after she dedicated her hair for her husband's safe return and the offering vanished from the temple. A court astronomer announced that it had been placed among the stars. The name reached English through the New Testament rather than through Egypt. Vernice appears in American records alongside the Vern- names in the same decades, which is why its parentage is genuinely unclear.
Meaningscholars disagree
bringer of victory
Greek Pherenike joins pherein, to carry or bring, with nike, victory — the same nike behind Nicholas and Veronica. Macedonian Greek turned the ph into a b, giving Berenike and then Bernice, which is the form the New Testament uses. That is the likelier road. The other runs to Latin vernus, of the spring, which gives Verna and Vernon and a group of American names built on them. The v could point either way and the record does not say.
How the name formed
- Pherenike
- Berenike
- Bernice
- Vernice
Related forms: Βερενίκη · Berenice · Bérénice
Pronouncing Vernice
vur-NEECE
vur-NEECE, two syllables, stress at the back, the ending a crisp s. Some say VUR-niss with the weight at the front, following the Vern- names rather than Bernice, and both are heard.
Nicknames for Vernice
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
- 1887
- Most girls named
- 1922209 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #451reached in 1919
- Change vs 2008
- −44.4%5 in 2011, from 9
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.
Vernice in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Βερενίκη in Greek — transliteration
- Berenice in Italian — related form
- Bérénice in French — related form
Vernices among us
people named Vernice 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
Vernice 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
- The Greek behind Bernice is documented, vivid and comes with a constellation attached.
- Vern works as a short form for either child.
- Two syllables with a clean finish, which sits well against a front-stressed surname.
- The stress falls at either end depending on which parent family the listener assumes.
- Bernice and Verna are both close enough to be substituted in speech and writing.
- The name belongs firmly to an earlier American century and has not returned.
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Vernice
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Vernices are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,600 people named Vernice are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Vernice in 2025?
- Vernice is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Vernice with classmates?
- Vernice 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 Vernice? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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