girl's name
Veronica
vuh-RON-ik-uh
- Origin Latin
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 4
- Letters 8
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 234,251
the United States
#427
2025 births
Veronica is a girl's name from a Latin phrase meaning true image, and the saint behind it was invented to explain a relic — the cloth came first, and the woman was named after it. Our data marks it stable.
- Veronica is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in 1980, when 4,407 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 4,542 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 4 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Veronica over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 324 |
| 1890s | 1,345 |
| 1900s | 2,258 |
| 1910s | 7,703 |
| 1920s | 8,723 |
| 1930s | 5,144 |
| 1940s | 11,540 |
| 1950s | 17,649 |
| 1960s | 30,131 |
| 1970s | 39,036 |
| 1980s | 39,545 |
| 1990s | 29,963 |
| 2000s | 17,275 |
| 2010s | 9,378 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 4,595 |
What Veronica means
Veronica means true image, from the Latin vera icon. A competing derivation makes it a form of the Greek Berenice, bringer of victory, which is probably the older source.
Where Veronica comes from
Veronica has a backwards history. A cloth said to bear the imprint of Christ's face was venerated in Rome from the twelfth century as the vera icon, the true image; the phrase was misread as a woman's name, and Saint Veronica — who wipes Christ's face on the road to Calvary — was constructed to account for it. She appears in no gospel. The name may equally derive from the Greek Berenice, bringer of victory, which existed first and which the Latin phrase may simply have been fitted to. Either way the veronica plant and the bullfighting pass are both named from the saint.
Veronica in use
Veronica peaked in the United States in 1980, when 4,407 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It now ranks 427th in the United States on 730 births, 491st in Ireland, 763rd in England and Wales on 48 and 2790th in France, across 234,251 lifetime births in five of the seven markets we track. Its French form Véronique, written up separately, holds slightly more volume and charts nowhere at all.
How popular is Veronica?
In 2025, Veronica was given to 730 babies in the United States, ranking #427 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Veronica is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Veronica is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Véronica | Véronica is a rare spelling of Veronica, written with an acute accent and recorded about 155 times, mostly in France. | 155 |
Names that peaked alongside Veronica
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Veronica also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Veronica over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Veronica
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Veronica in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Veronica
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Veronica — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Veronica
What does the name Veronica mean?
True image, from the Latin vera icon — though it may instead derive from the Greek Berenice, bringer of victory.
Was Saint Veronica a real person?
She appears in no gospel. The name was read out of the relic's Latin label and the woman constructed to explain it.
Is Véronique the same name?
Yes, the French form — which holds slightly more recorded births but no longer charts anywhere.
How popular is Veronica?
427th in the United States, and our data marks it stable.
Is Veronica a girl's or a boy's name?
Veronica is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Veronica?
Veronica has 4 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Veronica?
Veronica is usually shortened to Ronnie and Nica.
Is Veronica a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Veronica currently ranks #322 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.