Verna as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Verna

What is the meaning of the name Verna ?

The baby name Verna is a girl name , 2 syllables long and is pronounced VER-nə.

Verna is English, Latin in Origin.

Verna is an English feminine given name shaped from Vernon, while its usual interpretation rests on classical Latin vernus, of spring. Latin ver denoted spring; vernus is the adjective formed with the relational suffix -nus, and verna is its feminine singular form. Taken as a name, the literal sense is springlike or belonging to spring rather than the abstract noun springtime.

The name appears chiefly in English-language records from the nineteenth century, part of a period that favored short feminine names ending in -a and also adapted surnames or men’s names for girls. Its link with Vernon gave it a Victorian base, while the Latin reading supplied a seasonal gloss. U.S. usage was strongest in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, then declined after mid-century. Bearers include actresses Verna Felton and Verna Bloom, and film editor Verna Fields; elaborations such as Vernita, Vernetta, and Vernette remain less common.