Vernon

Meaning: Place of alder trees
Origin: English surname — From a Norman place name

Nicknames: Vern, Vernie

Boy's name · #1387 in the US (2025) · Vintage

Popularity over time

Vernon is an heirloom: its strongest era came around 1919, when it ranked #65. It has thinned since but never left the records — about 146,000 boys since 1880, ranked #1387 today. In all that time it has never once missed a year of the national records.

Across the states

In recent years, Vernon ran about 3× its national rate in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Appears in 2020-2025 birth records of 11 states. See the full state-by-state map on this page.

Around the world

See how Vernon ranks in other countries and regions.

#2,062 in Canada (2024) · #5,120 in England & Wales (2024) · #3,308 in Ecuador (2013) · #1,184 in Austria (1994) · #3,425 in France (1993) · #337 in Ireland (1992) · #343 in New Zealand (1987).

Famous Vernons

Vernon L. Smith — American economist and Nobel laureate (born 1927)
Vernon Wells — Australian actor (born 1945)
Vernon Davis — American football player (born 1984)
Vernon Maxwell — American basketball player (born 1965)
Vernon Chwe — South Korean and American rapper (born 1998)

In stories & tradition

Vernon Dursley — Harry Potter (film series)
Vernon Schillinger — Fictional human in the HBO series Oz
Vernon Tomlin — Fictional character from Coronation Street

What Vernons become

Among 595 notable people named Vernon:

Sports figures appear 1.38× more often than among typical names — e.g. Vernon Norwood, American sprinter (born 1992).

Similar names: Lloyd · Vedant · Howard · Milton · Don · Norman

Browse more boy names — popularity, trends and eras for 5,700+ American names, free.

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