Larue
Of French origin, a name indicating a small street or alleyway.
Name Census estimates that about 1,539 living Americans carry the first name Larue. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 72.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Larue today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Larue births was 1920 (185 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Larue. 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.
Key insights
- • Larue was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 222,712 Americans
Peak year
1920
185 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
2019 SSA rank
#8,599
Tracked since 1893
Census
Larue in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,003 people with the first name Larue, which placed it at #7,567 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
#7,567
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
2,003 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
71.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Larue
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Larue is White at 71.4%. The next largest groups are Black (21.6%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Larue 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 Larue at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White71.4% · 1,431
- Black or African American21.6% · 432
- Two or more races3.0% · 61
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 45
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 29
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Larue
Larue is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 5,512 total registrations, 1,540 (27.9%) were male and 3,972 (72.1%) were female.
Larue as a male name
- Ranked #8,599 in 2019
- 9 male births in 2019
- Peak: 1920 (37 births)
Larue as a female name
- Ranked #10,689 in 2024
- 9 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1920 (148 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Larue on both sides of the split. Of the 2,003 people counted with this name, 625 were male (31.2%) and 1,378 were female (68.8%).
Popularity
Larue: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Larue from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,462 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Larue 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 Larue during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Larues live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Utah, Texas recorded the most babies named Larue, while Virginia, Tennessee, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 103 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Larue
The given name Larue has its origins in the French language and can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old French word "la rue," meaning "the street" or "the road." This connection suggests that the name may have initially referred to someone who lived near a prominent street or roadway.
During the medieval period, the name Larue was primarily used in France, particularly in the northern regions. Some historians believe it may have been adopted as a surname first before transitioning into a given name. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 13th and 14th centuries, appearing in various historical documents and records from that era.
While there are no direct references to the name Larue in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is worth noting that the concept of naming individuals after their place of residence or occupation was relatively common in medieval Europe. This practice could explain the origin of the name and its initial purpose of identifying someone associated with a particular street or road.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the given name Larue was Jean Larue, a French monk and scholar who lived in the late 14th century. Another notable figure was Pierre Larue, a French military commander who fought in the Hundred Years' War during the early 15th century.
In the 16th century, Gilles Larue gained recognition as a French philosopher and humanist scholar, contributing to the intellectual discourse of the Renaissance period. Centuries later, in the 19th century, Louis Larue emerged as a prominent French painter known for his landscapes and portraits.
Additionally, the name Larue was carried by Émile Larue, a French explorer and adventurer who embarked on expeditions across Africa in the late 19th century, documenting his travels and encounters with various cultures.
While the name Larue has its roots in French culture, it has since gained popularity and usage in other parts of the world, particularly in regions with French cultural influence or colonial history. However, the focus of this report remains on the given name itself and its historical significance within the context of its linguistic and cultural origins.
People
Larue + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Larue 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
Larue: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Larue?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,539 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Larue 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 222,712 US residents.
Is Larue a common name?
We classify Larue as "Rare". It ranks above 92.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,512 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Larue most popular?
The single biggest year for Larue was 1920, when 185 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Larue is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Larue in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,003 people with the name Larue, or 0.66 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,567 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 Larue 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 Larue?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Larue on both sides of the split. Of the 2,003 people counted with this name, 625 were male (31.2%) and 1,378 were female (68.8%). 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 Larue?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Larue is White at 71.4%. The next largest groups are Black (21.6%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Larue most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Larue in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.4% (1,431 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 Larue in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Larue a female name?
Yes, 72.1% of people registered as Larue 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 Larue still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Larue 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 Larue 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 Larue?
See how many people share the name Larue on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.