Valerie is generally a feminine given name, derived directly from the French ''Valérie'' (a traditionally female name). Valéry or Valery is a masculine given name in parts of Europe (particularly in France and Russia), as well as a common surname in

Francophone The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

countries. Another, much rarer, French masculine form of the name is Valère. Both feminine and masculine forms of Valerie have derivatives in many European languages and are especially common in Russian and other Eastern European languages. The masculine form is not always a cognate of the feminine; it can have a distinct

etymology Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...

Etymology

Romance

The name is generally of Romance origins. The Latin clan name, ''Valerius'', is masculine and denotes strength, health or boldness. ''Valeria'' is simply the feminine form of this. Both masculine and feminine given names are derived via French into other languages. In

Catholic Europe The Catholic Church in Europe is part of the worldwide Catholic Church in full communion with the Holy See in Rome, including represented Eastern Catholic Catholic missions, missions. Demographically, Catholics are the largest religious group in ...

, given names always related the individual to a

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

, so the popularity of a name often reflected the importance of the cult of a saint. There were several important saints who bore the name and were widely venerated in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

and, more locally in recent times. St Valerie of Limoges (French ''Sainte Valérie de Limoges'') probably exercised the greatest influence in spreading the name. Her cult was practised along the important Way of St James and, as a cephalophore, she became a favourite subject in the early modern ceramics industry. The majority of variant spellings have emerged relatively recently, mainly in the 20th century, origin, with fashions often following the forms adopted in popular songs.

Germanic

The modern masculine given name Valéry is ambiguous. While generally considered a cognate of Valérie, it can also be a development of, or synonym for, the name ''Walaric(us)'' (English Walric), which is of Germanic origin and signifies “foreign power”. A notable example is

Walric, abbot of Leuconay Saint Walaric, modern French Valery (died 620), was a Franks, Frankish monk turned hermit who founded the . His cult was recognized in Duchy of Normandy, Normandy and Medieval England, England. Life Walaric was born in the Auvergne to a peasan ...

. Both “Saint-Valery” alriand “Saint-Valéry” aleriare common elements in French place-names, often used optionally for the same place. The second form is a modern misspelling for ‘Saint-Valery’, that is to say St Walric.

Notable people

Valerie Amos, Baroness Amos Valerie Ann Amos, Baroness Amos (born 13 March 1954) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician and diplomat who served as the eighth UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator. Before her ...

(born 1954), British politician *

Valérie Beauvais Valérie Beauvais (born 8 March 1963) is a French politician of The Republicans (LR) who represented Marne's 1st constituency in the National Assembly from the 2017 election until 2022. Political career Beauvis succeeded Arnaud Robinet ...

(born 1963), French politician *

Valerie Bertinelli Valerie Anne Bertinelli (born April 23, 1960) is an American actress and television personality. She began acting as a child actor, child and made her screen debut in a 1974 episode of Apple's Way, ''Apple's Way''. She gained wide recognition f ...

(born 1960), American actress *

Valérie Blass Valérie Blass (born 1967) is a Canadian artist working primarily in sculpture. She lives and works in her hometown of Montreal, Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Loc ...

(born 1967), Canadian artist *

Val Deakin Valerie Ann Deakin is a New Zealand dancer, choreographer and dance teacher. Deakin danced, choreographed and taught in the UK, Turkey and the US before returning to New Zealand. She established a dance school and theatre trust in Taranaki, wh ...

, New Zealand ballet dancer, choreographer and teacher * Valerie A. Fitzhugh, American pathologist and professor * Valerie French (1928–1990), English actress * Valerie Violet French (1909–1997), English socialite * Valerie Harper, American actress * Valerie Hart (1934–2021), indigenous Guyanese political leader * Valérie Harvey (born 1979), Canadian writer and sociologist * Valerie Hunter Gordon (1921–2016), British inventor of the world's first disposable nappy, and an early

sanitary towel A menstrual pad is an absorbent item worn in the underwear when menstruating, bleeding after giving birth, recovering from gynecologic surgery, experiencing a miscarriage or abortion, or in any other situation where it is necessary to absorb ...

system * Valerie Jarrett, American businesswoman and lawyer *

Valérie Kaprisky Valérie Kaprisky ( Chérès; born 19 August 1962) is a French actress. Life and career She was born Valerie Chérès on 19 August 1962 in Neuilly-sur-Seine. Kaprisky is her Polish mother's maiden name. She is of Greek-Ottoman and Argentine de ...

(born 1962), French actress * Valérie Lacroute (born 1965), French politician *

Valérie Lang Valérie Suzanne Rose Lang (24 March 1966 – 22 July 2013) was a French actress of stage, screen and television. She was educated at the Conservatoire National d'Art Dramatique in Paris under the tutelage of Jean-Pierre Vincent. Lang partook in ...

(1966–2013), French actress * Valerie Leon (born 1943), British actress * Valerie Lilley (born 1939), Northern Irish actress * Valerie Morales (born 1976), Puerto Rican singer-songwriter *Valerie Parashumti (born 1987), one of the perpetrators of the 2006 murder of Stacey Mitchell in Perth, Australia *

Valerie Plame Valerie Elise Plame (born August 13, 1963) is an American writer, spy, novelist, and former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer. As the subject of the 2003 Plame affair, also known as the CIA leak scandal, Plame's identity as a CIA offic ...

(born 1963), former CIA officer *

Valérie Plante Valérie Plante (; born 14 June 1974) is a Canadian politician serving as the 45th and current mayor of Montreal since 2017. First elected to Montreal City Council in the 2013 election, she served as leader of the Projet Montréal party sin ...

(born 1974), mayor of Montreal * Valérie Quennessen (1957–1989), French film actress * Valerie Sayers (born 1952), American author * Valerie Singleton (born 1937), British TV and radio presenter * Valerie Solanas (1936–1988), American radical feminist infamous for attempting to assassinate Andy Warhol * Valerie Whipps, First Lady of Palau

Religion

* Valerie of Limoges, according to legend, an associate of St Martial, a cephalophoric martyr and an important subject of

Limoges Limoges ( , , ; , locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region. Situated o ...

porcelain Porcelain (), also called china, is a ceramic material made by heating Industrial mineral, raw materials, generally including kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The greater strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to oth ...

. * Valeria of Milan, often known as St Valerie, venerated in

Thibodaux, Louisiana Thibodaux ( ) is a city in and the parish seat of Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 15,948 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Thib ...

* Valeria, a Christian saint martyred with Anesius

Sports

* Dame Valerie Adams (born 1984), New Zealand Olympic Shotputter * Valerie French (born 1962), American professional wrestler *

Valérie Hénin Valérie Hénin is a French people, French boxer, kickboxer and Muay Thai fighter. She is a former ISKA World Kickboxing champion and the former Women's International Boxing Federation, WIBF Welterweight boxing champion. Boxing On Valerie Henin ...

(born 1967), French boxer * Valérie Létourneau (born 1983), Professional MMA fighter * Valérie Nadaud (born 1968), French race walker * Valerie Sweeting (born 1987), Canadian curler * Valerie Zimring (born 1965), American rhythmic gymnast

Fictional characters

* Valerie, a character in '' Breath of Fire II'' * Valerie, a character in the animated series ''

Frisky Dingo ''Frisky Dingo'' is an American adult animated television series created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Adult Swim. The series revolves around the conflict between a supervillain named Killface and a superhero named Awesome X, alias billi ...

'' * Valerie, a character in Czechoslovak surrealist fantasy horror ''Valerie and Her Week of Wonders'' (1970 film) * Valerie Barlow, a character in the British soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' * Valerie "Val" Bassett, a minor character on the TV show ''

Will & Grace ''Will & Grace'' is an American television sitcom created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. Set in New York City, the show focuses on the friendship between best friends Will Truman (Eric McCormack), a Gay men, gay lawyer, and Grace Adler (Debra ...

'' * Valerie Birkhead, a character in the TV show ''

Sabrina the Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeared ...

'' * Valerie Brown (also known as "Valerie Smith"), a character in the '' Josie and the Pussycats'' franchise * Valerie “Val” Clarke, a dancer from the musical “A Chorus Line” * Valerie Frizzle, character from '' The Magic School Bus'' * Valerie Gail, a character in the 1988 film '' Earth Girls Are Easy'' * Valerie Gray, a ghost hunter in the cartoon series '' Danny Phantom'' * Valerie Hogan, a character in the American sitcom television series '' The Hogan Family'' * Valerie Lewton, a character from the 2000 film ''

Final Destination ''Final Destination'' is an American horror franchise that includes six films, ten novels, and two comic books. It is based on an unproduced spec script by Jeffrey Reddick, originally written for the television series ''The X-Files''. All of ...

'' * Valerie Malone, a character in TV series ''

Beverly Hills 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to as ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling via his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for 10 seasons on Fo ...

'' * Valerie Page, a character from the graphic novel ''

V for Vendetta ''V for Vendetta'' is a British graphic novel written by Alan Moore and illustrated by David Lloyd (comics), David Lloyd (with additional art by Tony Weare). Initially published between 1982 and 1985 in black and white as an ongoing Serial (li ...

'', as well as the 2005 film adaptation * Valerie Pitman, a character in TV series '' Doctors'' * Valerie "Val" Tyler, a character from the TV series '' What I Like About You''

Others

* List of Wikipedia articles beginning with "Valerie"

References

{{given name English feminine given names French feminine given names Feminine given names Irish feminine given names Scottish feminine given names German feminine given names Dutch feminine given names Norwegian feminine given names Swedish feminine given names Danish feminine given names Icelandic feminine given names