Valuas is a well-known name in Venlo.
There are two legends about where that name comes from.

Chief
According to the first legend, Venlo was founded in 96 AD by Valuas, the chief of the Bructeren, a Germanic tribe. After a lost war with neighboring tribes, Valuas fled to a fertile region on the Meuse. He called this region Venlo: height in the peat. When Valuas and his wife died, the people of Venlo placed large wooden statues of the two on a hill and lit fires.

City founder
The second legend tells about Valuas as city founder. The two city giants who still walk through Venlo’s streets during festivities with the Akkermansgilde, have only been called Valuas and his wife since 1751. Before that, they were carried for centuries as Goliath and (since 1536) his wife in church processions.
The Roermond bishop, however, felt that these stupid and ‘smaedelijcke statuen’ should disappear.
The people of Venlo decided to name the giants Valuas and his wife and made them the founders of their city. The bishop, of course, could not have the founders of the city removed. Valuas thus became an important name in Venlo.