Who created National Valerie Day and why is it on March 14?

No founder is documented and no source explains the March 14 date. The day appears to have emerged in the online 'National ___ Day' ecosystem, with early mentions surfacing around 2023.

Is the name day March 14 or the saint's feast on December 9?

They are two separate things. The modern internet observance is March 14, while December 9 is the traditional feast day of St. Valerie of Limoges, the name's patron saint.

What does the name Valerie mean?

It comes from the Latin verb valere, meaning to be strong, be well, or be worth, through the Roman family name Valerius and its feminine form Valeria.

Are there different spellings of the name?

Yes. Common variants include Valery, Valarie, and Valeria, along with the original French spelling Valérie. The observance itself has no separate alternate names.

Is Valerie a girl's name or a boy's name?

It is overwhelmingly a girl's name. Across US records since 1880, about 99.7% of people named Valerie have been female.

Was St. Valerie of Limoges a real person?

Historians treat her as a legendary figure who likely never lived. Her story, including the head-carrying scene, is told as legend rather than documented history.

National Valerie Day

Next celebratedSunday, March 14, 2027

A name-day observance on March 14 celebrating people named Valerie and the cultural history of the name.

See how to celebrate

Countdown to the day

--DAYS

--HRS

--MIN

--SEC

Last updated February 26, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar TeamHave an update or spot an error?

YEARLY DATEMarch 14

OBSERVED INInternationally

CATEGORYNames

ORIGIN

Community Origin

FOUNDING ENTITY

Not documented

FIRST OBSERVED

Not documented

HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

A name day with no documented author.

No documented founder or formal establishment record has been identified for National Valerie Day. The observance circulates on holiday-calendar sites with a March 14 date, with early mentions appearing online around 2023. No primary record names a creator or explains the choice of March 14.

+ Know the story? Submit a founder Help us complete this holiday

INTRO

The saint who carried her own head

<![CDATA[

The patron saint behind the name Valerie does something in legend that no anatomy textbook allows. After she was beheaded, the story goes, she bent down, picked up her own severed head, and carried it across town to her bishop.

This is St. Valerie of Limoges, a cephalophore, the medieval term for a head-carrying saint. The tale says she took a vow of chastity, refused to marry, and was executed for it, then walked her head to St. Martial as her executioner was struck dead by lightning. Historians treat her as a legendary figure who likely never lived, so read the scene as legend, not biography.

The legend is fiction, but the object is real. You can see Valerie offering up her head on the Casket of St Valerie, an enamel reliquary made in Limoges around 1170 and now held in the British Museum. National Valerie Day, observed on March 14, is the lighter modern sequel to a very strange medieval story.

]]>

ORIGINS

Valerie Day history

INTRODUCTION

The name carries its meaning in its bones. Valerie descends from the Latin verb valere, "to be strong, be well, be worth," by way of the Roman family name Valerius and its feminine form, Valeria.

That root runs deep. It traces back to an ancient Proto-Indo-European word for being strong. To name a daughter Valerie was, at the root, to wish her strength.

CHAPTER 01

A martyr's cult carries the name across Europe

A name needs carriers, and Valerie found a powerful one in the church. Wikipedia credits St. Valerie of Limoges with having "probably exercised the greatest influence in spreading the name."

Her cult traveled the roads. Pilgrims practiced her veneration along the Camino de Santiago, the medieval Way of St James, helping push the name across the continent. Around 985, relics tied to her were moved to Chambon-sur-Voueize, anchoring her cult in the Limousin region of France.

CHAPTER 02

An American peak, then a slow fade

Centuries later the name had its American moment. Valerie was a Top-100 name for the entire 1960s, ranking #69 for the decade in Social Security data.

Its single best year came earlier, in 1959, when the name reached roughly #60 in the United States. From there it cooled, drifting to around #127 by the mid-2020s.

CHAPTER 03

A name with no documented day

The pop charts kept the name alive even as the birth charts dropped. Two different hit songs called "Valerie," released decades apart, gave it a second life on the radio.

The March 14 observance is the thinnest part of the story. No founder is recorded, no establishing act, no stated reason for the date. Early mentions of National Valerie Day surface in online holiday calendars around 2023, and it has spread that way ever since.

]]>

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why We Love National Valerie Day

Generation

A Valerie's name quietly carries an era.

Because the name peaked so sharply at #69 across the 1960s, a Valerie's name quietly carries an era. The day is a small nod to a cohort that came of age in mid-century America and has been thinning in nurseries ever since.

Meaning

A name that wears its strength openly

Plenty of names need a baby book to decode. Valerie does not. Anyone who knows the words valor or valiant is already halfway to its meaning, which gives the day an easy, built-in compliment to hand any Valerie.

Culture

The name the radio refused to drop

Birth rates fell, but the name kept its fame through song. Two separate hits called 'Valerie' mean almost everyone can hum the name, which is rare cultural staying power for a day built around it.

BY THE NUMBERS

National Valerie Day by the Numbers

#69: Valerie's 1960s US decade rank
56,588: US girls named Valerie, 1960s
~7,300: US girls named Valerie at 1959 peak
99.7%: Valeries who are female (since 1880)

AT A GLANCE

The name Valerie at a glance

Origin: French Valérie, from the Latin family name Valerius
Meaning: From the verb valere, 'to be strong, be well, be worth'
Spelling variants: Valery, Valarie, Valeria, French Valérie
Patron saint: St. Valerie of Limoges, feast day December 9

GOOD TO KNOW

Famous Valeries

Valerie Harper

The actress who played Rhoda, first on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and then her own spinoff, and won three Emmy Awards along the way.

Valerie Bertinelli

A child star on One Day at a Time who became a long-running television personality.

Valerie Plame

The CIA officer whose covert identity was exposed in the 2003 leak scandal that gripped Washington.

Valerie Jarrett

A senior advisor to President Obama for the full span of his administration, from 2009 to 2017.

GOOD TO KNOW

Surprising facts about National Valerie Day

Valerie is a cousin of 'value' and 'valor'

The Latin root valere seeded a whole word family. It gives English valor, value, valid, valiant, prevail, convalesce, and valedictorian, all carrying the sense of strength or worth. Etymologically, a Valerie is kin to a valedictorian.

There are two different 'Valerie' songs, and people mix them up

Steve Winwood released his 'Valerie' in 1982, and a 1987 remix reached #9 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The Zutons put out a completely separate song called 'Valerie' in 2006. They share a title and nothing else.

Amy Winehouse covered the Zutons, not Winwood

The famous Mark Ronson version featuring Amy Winehouse is a cover of the Zutons' 2006 song, released in 2007. It peaked at UK #2 and spent 19 straight weeks in the Top 20.

The Zutons' Valerie was a real person with a court date

The song is about an American friend of frontman Dave McCabe who had been arrested for driving on a suspended licence. A 2019 Vice interview revealed she was celebrity makeup artist Valerie Star.

GET INVOLVED

How to Celebrate National Valerie Day

Celebrate the Valeries you know

Send a message to a Valerie in your life. The whole day exists to make people with the name feel seen, so a simple note is the entire point.

SETTLE

Settle the song debate

Play both 'Valerie' songs back to back: Steve Winwood's 1982 track and the Zutons' 2006 one that Amy Winehouse later covered. It is a fun, low-stakes argument waiting to happen.

TRACE

Trace the name's meaning

Look up the root valere and read it back to a Valerie. Telling someone their name means 'to be strong' is a better compliment than most birthday cards manage.

MEET

Meet the head-carrying saint

Read up on St. Valerie of Limoges and her c.1170 reliquary casket in the British Museum. It is the strangest backstory any name day can offer.

Share it forward

Post a March 14 shout-out to the Valeries you know. The day spreads almost entirely by word of mouth and social posts, so a little noise keeps it going.

Test your knowledge

How well do you know National Valerie Day?

1 / 6

What does the Latin root of the name Valerie, 'valere', mean?

Answer

No, it is an unofficial observance, not a public holiday. Nothing closes, and no government or organization is on record as having established it.

COLOPHON

Sources

How we know what’s on this page. References, not endorsements.

9sources

2primary records

1independently dated

Primary records

British Museum

Casket of St Valerie (Waddesdon Bequest, WB.19)

Curator record of a c.1170 Limoges enamel reliquary showing Valerie offering up her severed head.

View source

U.S. Social Security Administration

Top names of the 1960s

Official decade tabulation showing Valerie at #69 with 56,588 US girls named.

View source

Additional coverage

Online Etymology Dictionary

Valerie: Etymology, Origin and Meaning

Traces the name to the Latin verb valere and its strength-and-worth word family.

View source

Wikipedia

Valerie of Limoges

The cephalophore legend, the December 9 feast, and a note that she likely never lived.

View source

Wikipedia

Valerie (given name)

Latin clan-name origin and the saint's role in spreading the name across Europe.

View source

Name Census

Valerie: Name Meaning, History, and Popularity

Compiles SSA data: a 1959 peak near 7,300 births and a 99.7% female split since 1880.

View source

Behind the Name2025

Charts the name's US rank from a 1959 peak near #60 down to roughly #127 by 2025.

View source

Wikipedia

Valerie (Zutons song)

The 2006 original, the real Valerie Star backstory, and the 2007 Amy Winehouse cover.

View source

Wikipedia

Valerie (Steve Winwood song)

The separate 1982 Winwood song whose 1987 remix reached US Billboard #9.

View source

Related holidays

WED

Oct 2026

Names

National Veronica Day

Calling all Veronicas! It's your day to shine and celebrate being unique. Share your name with pride and embrace the special bond of having a namesake.

National Sharon Day

A fun observance on March 7 celebrating and honoring all people named Sharon, promoting pride in the name and its Hebrew origins meaning a fertile plain from biblical references.

126Read

SUN

Mar 2026