Valentine
About Valentine
Valentine is an attractive Shakespearean name with romantic associations, but those very ties to the saint and the sentimental holiday have sent it into a decline, one which we think may be about to turn around.
The name's best known bearer is the third century martyr St. Valentine, whose feast day of February 14 coincided with the pagan fertility festival of the goddess Juno, all of which led to the modern Valentine's Day. This makes Valentine one of the most perfect names for February babies.
There are two Shakespearean characters named Valentine: one in Twelfth Night, and the other belonging to one of the two gentlemen in Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Valentine was the name of the father of James Bond-creator Ian Fleming, the young Humphrey Bogart played a dashing con artist named Valentine Corliss in an early film, The Bad Sister, and Kevin Bacon was Valentine McKee in the 1990 sci fi movie Tremors. Valentine Michael Smith is a major character in Robert Heinlein's classic, Stranger in a Strange Land.
Though Valentine hasn't been in the U.S. Top 1000 for over half a century, it's currently in the Top 100 in France and Belgium.
Ricky Martin chose the even more romantic Latin Valentino for one of his twins, and the feminine Valentina was given to the daughters of Salma Hayek, Adriana Lima and Lolita Davidovich. And trivia tidbit: Valentine was the middle name of writer Henry Miller.
Pronounced VAL-uhn-tine.
As of October 2026, Valentine ranked #1807 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #366 in 1894, Nameberry popularity #784.
Editor's take: The name Valentine is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "strength, health".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #2,927 | 40 | 20.8 |
| 2015 | #3,583 | 31 | 16.2 |
| 2016 | #2,931 | 41 | 21.6 |
| 2017 | #2,634 | 48 | 25.9 |
| 2018 | #2,744 | 45 | 24.8 |
| 2019 | #2,260 | 62 | 34.6 |
| 2020 | #2,544 | 51 | 29.5 |
| 2021 | #2,520 | 53 | 30.3 |
| 2022 | #2,092 | 72 | 41.2 |
| 2023 | #1,906 | 83 | 48.5 |
| 2024 | #2,467 | 56 | 32.5 |
| 2025 | #1,807 | 89 | 52.1 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Valentine.
- Wolfgang
- Caspar
- Balthazar
- Mordecai
- Basil
- Belial
- Lazarus
- Merlin
- Ulysses
- Albus
- Pascal
- Octavius
- Percival
- Florence
- Remus
- Odysseus
- Constantine
- Ignatius
- Romulus
- Virgil
Valentine on lists
Famous Valentines
- Valentine Cary
English Bishop of Exeter
- Saint Valentine
Roman patron of love
- Valentine
ninth,century pope
- Valentine Warner
British chef and TV presenter
- Valentine Dyall
English actor
- Valentine Fleming
English MP and father of Ian Fleming
- Valentine "Val" Page
English motorcycle designer
- Valentine Abt
American composer and mandolin player
- Valentine Gill "Vallie" Hall III
American tennis player
- Valentine Penrose
French surrealist poet
- Valentine Quin
1st Earl of Dunraven and Mount,Earl, Irish peer
- Henry Valentine Miller
American novelist
- Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti
American actor
- Valentine "Val" McCallum
musician and son of David McCallum
- Valentine Anthony Rolph (b. 2006)
son of American actress Mary Lynn Rajskub
- Audie Valentine Burrows
son of Darren Burrows
- Kannon Valentine James (b. 2011)
son of actor Kevin James
Valentine in pop culture
- Valentine Morgenstern
psychopath shadowhunter in "The Mortal Instruments" series by Cassandra Clare
- Valentine Michael Smith
character in Robert A. Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land"
- Valentine Monty
character in "Sims" series
- Valentine
spelled Volantynys, in Geoffrey Chaucer's 'Parlement of Foules'
- "Like St. Valentine
" song by Finnish band HIM
- Valentine
a roguish masked juggler in the movie "Mirrormask"
- Nick Valentine
detective in Fallout 4
- Valentine Coverly is a character in Tom Stoppard's Broadway play
"Arcadia"