Valery is the French masculine spelling applied to girls in American use — a name that sits between the well-established Valerie and the more explicitly feminine Valeria, currently ranked 787 with 8,457 SSA records and a peak in 2006. It's a name that defies easy categorization and is more interesting for it.
Valeria's Latin Root
Valery connects to the Latin Valerius, a Roman family name derived from valere — to be strong, healthy, worth. The root that gives us valor, valiant, and valentine also gives us Valeria, Valerie, and Valery. In France, Valéry is historically a masculine name — Paul Valéry, the great French poet and essayist, is the most famous bearer. In American use, Valery with a Y has been given primarily to girls, functioning as a variant of Valerie. French names that cross the Atlantic often acquire different gender associations in American use, and Valery is one of the more interesting examples of that phenomenon.
Valerie or Valeria or Valery?
The choice between these three near-identical names is partly aesthetic and partly cultural. Valerie is the most established American form — a solid 1950s-70s peak name currently in quiet revival. Valeria is the Latin form, popular in Latino communities and currently rising. Valery is neither of those exactly, it's the French masculine spelling used for American girls, which gives it a slightly quirky position. Valery versus Valerie, the E vs Y ending changes the name's visual impression meaningfully while leaving the sound nearly identical.
The Case for Valery Specifically
For parents who love the sound but want to distinguish their child's name from the more common Valerie or the increasingly popular Valeria, Valery is a genuine option. The Y ending is the same distinguishing move that turns Katie to Katy or Sophie to Sophy, a small visual difference with a clear identity claim. The 2006 peak places it far enough back to read vintage-adjacent. Current rankings confirm that Valery occupies genuinely uncommon territory among girl names today.