Girl · Ancient Greek, through Latin
Veronica
Say it: veh-RON-ih-kuh
Meaning
Probably a Latin form of Greek Berenikē 'bringing victory'. The popular explanation vera icon 'true image', from the cloth said to bear Christ's face, is a medieval folk etymology.
Disputedsharp disagreement, or a popular meaning that is not supported.
Spread through the legend of Veronica's veil in the Middle Ages; widespread in the 20th century.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1970s
In the United States
- 220,788 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1974, about 1 in 347 girls
- 802 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
Early ChristianEnglishFrenchSpanishItalianGermanPolishRussianCzechAmerican
The family of the name
Other spellings: Veronika
| French | Véronique |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Verónica |
| Italian | Veronica |
| Portuguese | Verônica |
| German | Veronika |
| Polish | Weronika |
| Russian | Veronika |
| Hungarian | Veronika |
Famous bearers
- Veronica, woman who wiped Jesus' face in Christian tradition
- Veronica Franco, Venetian poet
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Apocrypha and other early religious writings
- Calendars of saints and name days
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- Lives of the saints and early Christian martyrologies
- Medieval and Renaissance Italian records, such as the Florentine tax survey of 1427
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.