Lalah
An Arabic feminine name meaning "the night's brightest star".
Name Census estimates that about 318 living Americans carry the first name Lalah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lalah today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lalah births was 2010 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lalah. 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.
People living today
318
~ 1 in 1,077,844 Americans
Peak year
2010
23 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,980
Tracked since 1893
Census
Lalah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 352 people with the first name Lalah, which placed it at #26,438 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
#26,438
National first-name rank
People counted
352
352 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
58.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lalah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lalah is Black at 58.2%. The next largest groups are White (28.4%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Lalah 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 Lalah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American58.2% · 205
- White28.4% · 100
- Two or more races5.4% · 19
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Lalah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lalah from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 138 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lalah 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 Lalah 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 Lalah
The name Lalah has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that served as the root of many modern Indian languages. It is derived from the Sanskrit word 'lala', which means 'darling' or 'beloved'. The name has been in use for centuries, particularly in regions of India and among Hindu communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lalah can be traced back to the 16th century, when it appeared in Hindu religious texts and literature. It was often given to baby girls as a term of endearment, reflecting the love and affection parents had for their children.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Lalah. One of the most famous was Lalah Rukh (1572-1639), a renowned Mughal princess and daughter of Emperor Akbar. She was known for her beauty, intelligence, and patronage of the arts.
Another prominent figure was Lalah Lajpat Rai (1865-1928), an Indian freedom fighter and politician who played a significant role in the Indian independence movement against British colonial rule. He was a leader of the Indian National Congress and is remembered as one of the 'Lal Bal Pal' trio, alongside Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal.
In the realm of literature, Lalah Ishwari Prasad (1820-1894) was a celebrated Hindi writer and poet from Uttar Pradesh, India. He is known for his contributions to the Khadi Boli style of poetry and his works, which included anthologies and translations of Sanskrit texts.
Moving to the performing arts, Lalah Pasha (1904-1976) was a renowned Egyptian singer and dancer who rose to fame in the early 20th century. She was a pioneer of the modern Egyptian dance movement and introduced new styles that blended traditional and contemporary elements.
Finally, in the field of sports, Lalah Haselrig (1954-2020) was an American professional basketball player who played in the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) during the late 1970s and early 1980s. She was a member of the Houston Angels team and was known for her impressive scoring abilities.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Lalah throughout history, reflecting its enduring presence across various cultures, time periods, and fields of endeavor.
People
Lalah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lalah 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
Lalah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lalah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 318 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lalah 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 1,077,844 US residents.
Is Lalah a common name?
We classify Lalah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 452 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lalah most popular?
The single biggest year for Lalah was 2010, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lalah is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lalah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 352 people with the name Lalah, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,438 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 Lalah 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 Lalah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lalah leans strongly female. 354 people counted with this name were female (98.9%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.1%). 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 Lalah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lalah is Black at 58.2%. The next largest groups are White (28.4%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Lalah most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lalah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.2% (205 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 Lalah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lalah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lalah 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 Lalah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lalah 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 Lalah 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 have the name Lalah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.