Lanitra
Of Malagasy origin, meaning "heaven" or "sky".
Name Census estimates that about 182 living Americans carry the first name Lanitra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lanitra today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lanitra births was 1976 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lanitra. 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
182
~ 1 in 1,883,266 Americans
Peak year
1976
20 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
1998 SSA rank
#15,450
Tracked since 1971
Census
Lanitra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 201 people with the first name Lanitra, which placed it at #38,294 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
#38,294
National first-name rank
People counted
201
201 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lanitra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lanitra is Black at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and White (2.0%). 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 Lanitra 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 Lanitra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.5% · 182
- Two or more races3.0% · 6
- White2.0% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1
Popularity
Lanitra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lanitra from the 1970s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 101 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lanitra 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 Lanitra during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lanitras live
Origin
Meaning and history of Lanitra
The name Lanitra is derived from the Malagasy language, which is spoken in Madagascar, an island nation off the southeastern coast of Africa. It is believed to have originated during the 17th or 18th century, when the island was being colonized by various European powers, particularly the French.
Lanitra is a feminine name that is thought to be a combination of two Malagasy words: "lanitra," meaning "sky" or "heaven," and "tra," which can be a suffix denoting a place or location. Thus, the name Lanitra can be interpreted as "place of the sky" or "heavenly place."
While the name does not appear to have any direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its connection to the natural world and the concept of heaven may have been influenced by the traditional beliefs and folklore of the Malagasy people.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lanitra can be found in the writings of French explorers and missionaries who visited Madagascar during the 18th and 19th centuries. These accounts often included lists of local names and their meanings, helping to preserve the linguistic heritage of the island.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Lanitra:
1. Lanitra Rakotomalala (born 1965), a Malagasy singer and songwriter known for her contributions to the island's traditional and contemporary music scenes.
2. Lanitra Razafindrakoto (1926-2003), a Malagasy politician and diplomat who served as the country's ambassador to the United Nations in the 1970s.
3. Lanitra Rasoamanana (born 1982), a Malagasy fashion designer and entrepreneur who has showcased her work at international fashion events.
4. Lanitra Andriantsitohaina (born 1950), a Malagasy writer and poet whose works explore themes of identity, culture, and the natural world.
5. Lanitra Ravalomanana (born 1975), a Malagasy environmental activist and conservationist who has worked to protect the island's unique ecosystems and endangered species.
These individuals, among others, have carried the name Lanitra and contributed to various aspects of Malagasy culture, arts, politics, and environmental efforts, helping to keep the name and its meaning alive throughout the years.
People
Lanitra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lanitra 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
Lanitra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lanitra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 182 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lanitra 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 1,883,266 US residents.
Is Lanitra a common name?
We classify Lanitra as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 196 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lanitra most popular?
The single biggest year for Lanitra was 1976, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lanitra is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lanitra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 201 people with the name Lanitra, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,294 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 Lanitra 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 Lanitra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lanitra appears almost entirely female. Of the 195 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Lanitra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lanitra is Black at 90.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.0%) and White (2.0%). 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 Lanitra most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lanitra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.5% (182 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 Lanitra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lanitra a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lanitra 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 Lanitra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lanitra 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 Lanitra 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 Americans are named Lanitra?
Want to know how many Americans are named Lanitra? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.