Val

Did you know?

A few things about Val you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Val

Val Kilmer

American actor (1959–2025)

Choose Val and your child shares a first name with Val Kilmer, an American actor. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Val, like who?” Val Kilmer's Wikipedia article is available in 86 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Val Kilmer on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 77,519 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Val, 22 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Val would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryVal first shows up in US birth records in 1882, the first year at least 5 babies got it. It has been in use for 143 years since.
• 🏆Best yearIt was far more popular in 1952, when it ranked #523. Today it's #4,539, so it could be due a comeback.
• 🚀TrendVal has climbed 6,066 places in the US rankings over the last five years and now sits at #4,539. Fast risers like this often keep climbing, so expect to hear it more.

About the name Val

Val is a boy name of Latin origin. It has 3 letters and 1 syllable, starting with V and ending in “-val”. US birth records list Val for boys from 1882 to 2025, in 129 of those 144 years. Its best year was 1952, when it ranked #523 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #4,539, with 22 babies.

Origin:Latin names