VALERIE SWAGER

From the French form of the Latin name Valeria, feminine of Valerius, an old Roman family name apparently derived from valere ‘to be healthy, strong’. The name owes its popularity as a male name in France to the cult of a 3rd-century saint who was converted to Christianity by Martial of Limoges. The masculine form Valery is found occasionally in England in the 16th century, but by the 17th century had fallen into disuse.

Variant spelling of Dutch Swaager, from Middle Dutch zwager ‘son-’ or ‘father-in-law’, used to distinguish between two bearers of the same personal name related by marriage.