Valerie, the English and German form of Valeria, is derived from the Latin word valere, meaning "to be strong." It has appeared in the Social Security Administration's top 1,000 for girl names every year since 1900, but didn't crack the top-100 until 1952. Valerie remained in the top-100 until 1988, with the exception of 1971 and 1972, and has been a top-200 girl's name every year since. It's more common than the name Valeria and Valery, but parents that want a more unique name can go with Vale, the name "Today" anchor Savannah Guthrie gave her daughter, born in 2014.
