Valerie (given name)

Romance

The name is generally of Romance 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, 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, 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 and, as a cephalophore, 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” [valri] and “Saint-Valéry” [valeri] are 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.

Religion

• Valerie of Limoges, according to legend, an associate of St Martial, a cephalophoric martyr and an important subject of Limoges porcelain.
• Valeria of Milan, often known as St Valerie, venerated in Thibodaux, Louisiana
• Valeria, a Christian saint martyred with Anesius

Sports

• Valerie Sweeting, Canadian curler
• Valerie Zimring, American rhythmic gymnast
• Valérie Létourneau, Professional MMA fighter

Fictional characters

• Valerie (game character), a character in Breath of Fire II
• Valerie, a character in the animated series Frisky Dingo
• Valerie Frizzle, character from "The Magic School Bus"
• Valerie Brown (also known as "Valerie Smith"), a character in the Josie and the Pussycats franchise
• Valerie 'Val' Bassett, a minor character on the TV show Will & Grace
• Valerie Gray, a ghost hunter in the cartoon series Danny Phantom
• Valerie Lewton, a character from Final Destination
• Valerie 'Val' Tyler, a character from the TV series What I Like About You
• Valerie Page, a character from the graphic novel V For Vendetta
• Valerie, a character on Beverly Hills 90210

Others

• List of Wikipedia articles beginning with "Valerie"