Lael
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "dedicated to God".
Name Census estimates that about 2,847 living Americans carry the first name Lael. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 69.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Lael today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lael births was 2024 (188 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lael. 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 Lael with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.8K
~ 1 in 120,391 Americans
Peak year
2024
188 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,472
Tracked since 1895
Census
Lael in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,381 people with the first name Lael, which placed it at #6,671 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
#6,671
National first-name rank
People counted
2.4K
2,381 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lael
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lael is White at 54.6%. The next largest groups are Black (24.6%) and Hispanic (8.9%). 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 Lael 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 Lael at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.6% · 1,299
- Black or African American24.6% · 585
- Hispanic or Latino8.9% · 211
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.9% · 141
- Two or more races5.0% · 120
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 25
Gender
Gender distribution for Lael
Lael is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 3,271 total registrations, 1,010 (30.9%) were male and 2,261 (69.1%) were female.
Lael as a male name
- Ranked #1,472 in 2024
- 123 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (123 births)
Lael as a female name
- Ranked #2,673 in 2024
- 65 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (77 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lael on both sides of the split. Of the 2,375 people counted with this name, 705 were male (29.7%) and 1,670 were female (70.3%).
Popularity
Lael: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lael from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 833 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Lael remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lael 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 Lael during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Laels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Lael, while Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 37 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lael
The given name Lael originates from the Hebrew language and culture. It is derived from the Hebrew word "la'el," which means "belonging to God" or "devoted to God." The name is believed to have been in use since ancient times, particularly among Jewish communities.
Lael is a unisex name, meaning it can be used for both males and females. In the Old Testament of the Bible, there are no direct references to individuals named Lael. However, the name's roots can be traced back to the Hebrew language, which was used extensively in ancient religious texts and scriptures.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lael can be found in the late 19th century. Lael Byrne was an American actress born in 1884 who appeared in several silent films during the early 20th century. She was active in the entertainment industry from the late 1900s until the 1920s.
Another notable individual with the name Lael was Lael Woodbury, an American educator and author born in 1889. She wrote several books on education and child development, including "The New Education" and "The Relation of Certain Factors of the Home Environment to the Intelligence of Children."
In the world of literature, Lael Wertenbaker was an American historian and author born in 1899. He wrote several books on the history of the American Revolution and the early years of the United States, including "The Old South: The Founding of American Civilization" and "The Shaping of Colonial Virginia."
Lael Anson Callaway was an American businessman and philanthropist born in 1894. He founded the Callaway Gardens, a renowned resort and gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia, which opened in 1952. The gardens are known for their beautiful landscapes, outdoor activities, and educational programs.
In the field of music, Lael Neale was an American folk singer and songwriter born in 1947. She gained popularity in the 1970s and 1980s for her unique blend of folk and contemporary styles. Some of her notable albums include "Acquaintance" and "Life Goes On."
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the name Lael. While not an extremely common name, it has been used across various cultures and time periods, with each person leaving their mark in their respective fields.
People
Lael + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lael as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Lael: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lael?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,847 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lael 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 120,391 US residents.
Is Lael a common name?
We classify Lael as "Rare". It ranks above 95% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,271 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lael most popular?
The single biggest year for Lael was 2024, when 188 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lael is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lael in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,381 people with the name Lael, or 0.79 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,671 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 Lael 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 Lael?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lael on both sides of the split. Of the 2,375 people counted with this name, 705 were male (29.7%) and 1,670 were female (70.3%). 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 Lael?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lael is White at 54.6%. The next largest groups are Black (24.6%) and Hispanic (8.9%). 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 Lael most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lael in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.6% (1,299 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 Lael in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lael a female name?
Yes, 69.1% of people registered as Lael 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 Lael still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lael 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 Lael 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 common is the name Lael?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.