Hannelore
A feminine German name derived from the Germanic elements "hann" and "lora", meaning "gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 236 living Americans carry the first name Hannelore. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hannelore today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hannelore births was 1958 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hannelore. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Hannelore with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
236
~ 1 in 1,452,349 Americans
Peak year
1958
12 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2023 SSA rank
#12,598
Tracked since 1929
Census
Hannelore in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,751 people with the first name Hannelore, which placed it at #5,981 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#5,981
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,751 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
96.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hannelore
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hannelore is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.6%) and Two or More Races (1.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Hannelore described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Hannelore at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.4% · 2,652
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 43
- Two or more races1.1% · 30
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 14
- Black or African American0.4% · 12
Popularity
Hannelore: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hannelore from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 61 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hannelore by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Hannelore during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hannelore
The name Hannelore has its origins in the German language. It is a compound name formed by combining the Germanic elements "han" meaning "home" or "estate" and "lora" derived from the name Loretta, meaning "little laurel plant." The earliest known use of this name dates back to the Middle Ages in Central Europe.
Hannelore was a popular name among the German nobility during the medieval period. It was often bestowed upon daughters of aristocratic families, reflecting their connection to land and estates. The name carried connotations of nobility, tradition, and a sense of belonging to a particular ancestral lineage.
In medieval German literature, there are references to characters bearing the name Hannelore. One notable example is found in the epic poem "Das Nibelungenlied" (The Song of the Nibelungs), composed around the 13th century. The name appears in this literary work, further solidifying its presence in German culture during that era.
The earliest recorded instance of a person named Hannelore dates back to the 14th century. Hannelore von Lingen, born in 1342, was a noblewoman from the region of Westphalia in present-day Germany. She played a significant role in the local politics and administration of her family's estates.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Hannelore:
1. Hannelore Kohl (1933-2001), wife of former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, was known for her charitable work and advocacy for children's rights.
2. Hannelore Elsner (1942-2019) was a renowned German actress who appeared in numerous films and television shows, earning critical acclaim for her performances.
3. Hannelore Hippen (1944-2022) was a German sprint canoeist who won multiple Olympic gold medals in the 1960s and 1970s, cementing her status as one of the most successful athletes in her sport.
4. Hannelore Schroth (1922-1987) was a German sculptor and academic known for her abstract and figurative works, which explored themes of human existence and spirituality.
5. Hannelore Baron (1926-1987) was a German writer and journalist who authored several novels and screenplays, often exploring social issues and the complexities of human relationships.
The name Hannelore has maintained a presence in German-speaking regions, particularly in Germany and Austria, though its popularity has waned in recent decades. It remains a name steeped in history, carrying echoes of nobility, cultural heritage, and a connection to the Germanic roots from which it originated.
People
Hannelore + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hannelore as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Hannelore: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hannelore?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 236 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hannelore going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,452,349 US residents.
Is Hannelore a common name?
We classify Hannelore as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 260 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hannelore most popular?
The single biggest year for Hannelore was 1958, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hannelore is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hannelore in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,751 people with the name Hannelore, or 0.91 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,981 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Hannelore in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Hannelore?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hannelore appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,749 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Hannelore?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hannelore is White at 96.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.6%) and Two or More Races (1.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Hannelore most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Hannelore in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.4% (2,652 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Hannelore in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hannelore a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hannelore in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Hannelore still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hannelore in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Hannelore can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Hannelore?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.