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

• Dame Valerie Adams, New Zealand Olympic Shotputter
• Valerie French, American professional wrestler
• Valérie Hénin, French boxer
• Valérie Létourneau, Professional MMA fighter
• Valérie Nadaud (born 1968), French race walker
• Valerie Sweeting, Canadian curler
• Valerie Zimring, American rhythmic gymnast

Fictional characters

• Valerie, a character in Breath of Fire II
• Valerie, a character in the animated series Frisky Dingo
• 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
• Valerie "Val" Bassett, a minor character on the TV show Will & Grace
• Valerie Birkhead, a character in the TV show Sabrina the Teenage Witch
• Valerie Brown (also known as "Valerie Smith"), a character in the Josie and the Pussycats franchise
• Valerie “Val” Clarke, a dancer from the musical “A Chorus Line”
• Valerie Frizzle, character from The Magic School Bus
• Valerie Gail, a character in the 1988 film Earth Girls Are Easy
• Valerie Gray, a ghost hunter in the cartoon series Danny Phantom
• Valerie Lewton, a character from the 2000 film Final Destination
• Valerie Malone, a character in TV series Beverly Hills 90210
• Valerie Page, a character from the graphic novel V for Vendetta, as well as the 2005 film adaptation
• 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"