| Nadia | Vera | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | hope | Faith; true |
| Origin | slavic | Slavic |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | NAH-dee-ah | VEER-uh |
| Syllables | 3 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1911 | 1880 |
| Peak year | 2005 (1,923) | 1918 (3,923) |
| In 2025 | 531 | 1,482 |
| Trend | Declining | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Nadia | Vera |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 3,818 | 8,040 |
| 2010s | 9,868 | 9,052 |
| 2000s | 15,665 | 1,612 |
| 1990s | 7,134 | 869 |
| 1980s | 5,533 | 1,311 |
| 1970s | 3,076 | 2,258 |
| 1960s | 536 | 6,032 |
| 1950s | 355 | 11,041 |
| 1940s | 157 | 12,189 |
| 1930s | 166 | 18,023 |
| 1920s | 151 | 32,541 |
| 1910s | 97 | 28,289 |
| 1900s | 0 | 10,457 |
| 1890s | 0 | 6,377 |
| 1880s | 0 | 1,365 |
A Slavic name derived from Russian/Bulgarian Nadezhda, from Old Slavic for 'hope' (Proto-Slavic root naděja). Originally a diminutive of Nadezhda, it is widely used as a given name in its own right. Note: a separate Arabic name Nadiyyah ('tender, delicate') is sometimes conflated with it but is an unrelated root.
From the Slavic, “faith,” and echoing the Latin verus, “true.”
Vera is more popular than Nadia today: about 1,482 US babies were given the name Vera in 2025, compared with 531 named Nadia.
Nadia means hope (slavic origin), while Vera means Faith; true (Slavic origin).
In US records, Nadia first appears in 1911 and Vera in 1880, so Vera has the longer recorded history.