Valerie is generally a feminine given name, derived directly from the French ''Valérie'' (a female-only name). Valéry or

Valery The French name Valery () is a male given name or surname of Germanic origin ''Walaric'' (see Walric of Leuconay), that has often been confused in modern times with the Latin name '' Valerius''—that explains the variant spelling Valéry (). The ...

is a masculine given name in parts of Europe (particularly in France and Russia), as well as a common surname in

Francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

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

etymology Etymology () The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the form of words ...

Etymology

Romance

The name is generally of

Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

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, given names always related the individual to a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...

, 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 late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, as well as 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 on the very important

Way of St James The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint ...

and, as a

cephalophore A cephalophore (from the Greek for "head-carrier") is a saint who is generally depicted carrying their own severed head. In Christian art, this was usually meant to signify that the subject in question had been martyred by beheading. Depicting th ...

, she became a favourite subject for the early modern ceramics industry. The majority of the variant spellings are of recent, mainly 20th century, origin, with fashions often following the forms adopted in popular songs.

Germanic

The modern masculine given name Valéry is ambiguous. While generally a cognate of Valérie, it can also be 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. 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 (born 1954), British politician * Valerie Bertinelli, American actress * Valerie French, English actress *

Valerie Violet French Violet Valerie French Brougham Kindersley (13 February 1909 – 18 July 1997) was a Natal-born English socialite. She and her sister Essex Leila Hilary French were known as the "French sisters" and included in '' The Book of Beauty'' by Cecil Be ...

(1909-1997), English socialite * Valerie Harper, American actress *

Valerie Hart Valerie Paul Hart (March 13, 1933February 26, 2021) was an indigenous political leader from the Wapishana ethnic group and a member of Guyana's Amerindian Party, opposed to the Forbes Burnham government; she ran for the 1968 general elections, a ...

(1934–2021), indigenous political leader *

Valerie Jarrett Valerie June Jarrett ( Bowman; born November 14, 1956) is an American businesswoman and former government official. She currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the Obama Foundation. She previously served as the senior advisor to U.S. ...

, American businesswoman and lawyer * Valerie Leon, British actress * Valerie Lilley, Northern Irish actress *

Valerie Morales Valerie Morales (born January 18, 1976), also known simply as Valerie or Valerie Flow, is a Puerto Rican singer-songwriter and radio and television personality, who has worked with a variety of musical performers including Daddy Yankee, Eddie D ...

, 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 officer ...

, former CIA officer * Valerie Sayers, American author * Valerie Singleton, British TV and radio presenter * Valerie Solanas (1936–1988), author of feminist book ''SCUM Manifesto'' * Valerie Whipps, First Lady of Palau

Religion

Valerie of Limoges Valerie may refer to: People * Saint Valerie (disambiguation), a number of saints went by the name Valerie * Valerie (given name), a feminine given name Songs *"Valerie", a 1981 song by Quarterflash, from ''Quarterflash'' *"Valerie", a 1982 s ...

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

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, 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 ...

porcelain Porcelain () is a ceramic material made by heating substances, generally including materials such as kaolinite, in a kiln to temperatures between . The strength and translucence of porcelain, relative to other types of pottery, arises main ...

. * Valeria of Milan, often known as St Valerie, venerated in Thibodaux, Louisiana * Valeria, a Christian saint martyred with

Anesius Anesius is one of several Christian martyrs in Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjace ...

Sports

Dame Valerie Adams Dame Valerie Kasanita Adams (formerly Vili; born 6 October 1984) is a retired New Zealand shot putter. She is a four-time World champion, four-time World Indoor champion, two-time Olympic, three-time Commonwealth Games champion and twice IAA ...

, New Zealand Olympic Shotputter * Valerie French, American professional wrestler *

Valerie Sweeting Valerie Sweeting (born July 9, 1987 in Redvers, Saskatchewan) is a Canadian curler from Lottie Lake, Alberta She currently plays third for Team Kerri Einarson. Sweeting skipped Alberta to a silver medal at the and Scotties Tournament of Hea ...

, Canadian curler *

Valerie Zimring Valerie Le Zimring-Schneiderman (born March 28, 1965 in Los Angeles) is a former Olympic rhythmic gymnast. She represented the United States at the 1984 Summer Olympics, and finished 11th in the individual all-around. Early life Zimring was b ...

, American rhythmic gymnast

Fictional characters

* Valerie, a character in ''

Breath of Fire II ''Breath of Fire II'' is a role-playing video game developed and published by Capcom. First released in 1994 in video gaming, 1994, the game was licensed to Laguna for European release in 1996 in video gaming, 1996. It is the second entry in the ' ...

'' * Valerie, a character in the animated series ''

Frisky Dingo ''Frisky Dingo'' is an American adult animated cartoon 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 billionaire ...

'' * 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'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Orig ...

'' * 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 lawyer, and Grace Adler ( Debra Messi ...

'' * 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 appeare ...

'' * Valerie Brown (also known as "Valerie Smith"), a character in the '' Josie and the Pussycats'' franchise * Valerie Frizzle, character from '' The Magic School Bus'' * Valerie Gail, a character in the 1988 film ''

Earth Girls Are Easy ''Earth Girls Are Easy'' is a 1988 American science fiction musical romantic comedy film that was produced by Tony Garnett, Duncan Henderson, and Terrence E. McNally and was directed by Julien Temple. The film stars Geena Davis, Julie Brown, C ...

'' * Valerie Gray, a ghost hunter in the cartoon series ''

Danny Phantom ''Danny Phantom'' is an American animated superhero action adventure television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. The series follows Danny Fenton, a teenage boy who, after an accident with an unpredictable portal between the h ...

'' * Valerie Lewton, a character from the 2000 film '' Final Destination'' * Valerie Malone, a character in TV series ''

Beverly Hills 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for ...

'' * 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 (with additional art by Tony Weare). Initially published between 1982 and 1985 in black and white as an ongoing serial in the British anthol ...

'', as well as

V for Vendetta (film) ''V for Vendetta'' is a 2005 dystopian political action film directed by James McTeigue (in his feature directorial debut) from a screenplay by the Wachowskis. It is based on the 1988 DC Vertigo Comics limited series of the same titl ...

* 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"

Given name Valérie

* Valérie Beauvais (born 1963), French politician * Valérie Lacroute (born 1965), French politician * Valérie Lang (1966–2013), French actress * Valérie Létourneau, Professional MMA fighter * Valérie Nadaud (born 1968), French race walker *

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 Quennessen (1957–1989), French film actress