MEANING & HISTORY
What does Vera mean?
Vera comes through Russian Vera, a virtue name meaning faith. The Tagalog account records a borrowing through English, explaining how the Russian name can be documented in a Philippine-language dictionary.
Latin vera, “true,” is a familiar secondary association because it looks and sounds similar, but it is not the same historical route. A clear headline can therefore say “faith” while the fuller account explains why “truth” also appears in naming discussions. Vera remains a personal name in several languages, each with its own pronunciation.
Its virtue meaning is linguistic history rather than evidence of a particular bearer’s beliefs.
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Tagalog
- /ˈveɾa/Standard-Tagalog
- [ˈvɛː.ɾɐ]Standard-Tagalog
- /ˈbeɾa/with nativization
- [ˈbɛː.ɾɐ]with nativization
Ve · ra2 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
TagalogEtymology & source
Borrowed from English Vera, from Russian Ве́ра (Véra).
a female given name from English
EnglishEtymology & source
Borrowed in the nineteenth century from the Russian virtue name Ве́ра (Véra, “faith”). By folk etymology it has also been explained as Latin vera (“true”).
A female given name from Russian.
SpanishEtymology & source
a female given name, equivalent to English Vera
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Vera in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Vera
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Verna·Feminine Vernon, or a spring-related coinage
- Tamera♀Variant of Tamara; date-palm family
- Venus♀Name of the Roman goddess of love
- Vernie·Familiar form of Vernon, Verna, Laverne, or Veronica
- Vernon·Surname from a French place-name with alder trees
- Veronica♀From Berenice; later associated with true image
- Venancio♂Hunting or pursuing, through Venantius
What rhymes with Vera?
Matches share a dictionary-supplied rhyme key in the stated language. Check the recorded reading; another language or accent can change the rhyme.
Explore Vera further
Follow the sources
- Wiktionary contributors — Vera (Tagalog) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Vera (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary contributors — Vera (Spanish) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Behind the Name — vera-1 (opens in a new tab)
Russian faith meaning and separate Latin true association. Consulted editorial entry, not user-submitted content.