Latona
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "the hidden one".
Name Census estimates that about 306 living Americans carry the first name Latona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Latona today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Latona births was 1971 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Latona. 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
306
~ 1 in 1,120,112 Americans
Peak year
1971
23 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
1991 SSA rank
#12,372
Tracked since 1956
Census
Latona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 276 people with the first name Latona, which placed it at #31,162 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
#31,162
National first-name rank
People counted
276
276 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
53.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Latona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Latona is Black at 53.3%. The next largest groups are White (38.0%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Latona 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 Latona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American53.3% · 147
- White38.0% · 105
- Two or more races5.1% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 4
Popularity
Latona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Latona from the 1950s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 140 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
Latona 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 Latona 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 Latona
The name Latona has its origins in ancient Greek mythology and is closely tied to the goddess of the same name. Latona was a Titaness, the daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe. She was the mother of the twin deities Apollo and Artemis, two of the most important figures in the Greek pantheon.
The name Latona is thought to be derived from the ancient Greek word "lēthō," which means "to be concealed" or "to escape notice." This could be a reference to the wanderings of Latona as she sought a safe place to give birth to her children, evading the wrath of the jealous goddess Hera.
In ancient texts, Latona's story is prominently featured in various works, including Ovid's Metamorphoses and the Homeric Hymn to Apollo. These accounts depict her struggles and the eventual birth of Apollo and Artemis on the island of Delos.
The earliest recorded use of the name Latona dates back to ancient Greek times, as it was a name bestowed upon the mythological figure. However, its use as a given name for mortals is not widely documented until much later in history.
One notable figure who bore the name Latona was Latona Caufman Bassett (1827-1913), an American educator and author. She was a prominent figure in the women's suffrage movement and founded the National Woman's Relief Corps, an auxiliary organization to the Grand Army of the Republic.
Another individual with the name Latona was Latona Maria Stroller (1912-1991), an Austrian painter and graphic artist known for her abstract expressionist works. She was a member of the influential Viennese avant-garde art scene in the mid-20th century.
In the field of literature, Latona Ann Cropper (1840-1926) was an American writer and educator who authored several books, including "Mary, Wife of Lincoln," a biography of Mary Todd Lincoln.
Latona Fae Carter (1903-1988) was an American actress and singer who performed on stage and in films during the early 20th century. She is best known for her roles in Broadway productions and her work with the Ziegfeld Follies.
Finally, Latona McClain (1865-1956) was an American educator and civil rights activist. She served as the president of the Arkansas State Teachers Association and worked tirelessly to improve educational opportunities for African American students in the segregated South.
People
Latona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Latona 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
Latona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Latona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 306 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Latona 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 1,120,112 US residents.
Is Latona a common name?
We classify Latona as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 345 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Latona most popular?
The single biggest year for Latona was 1971, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Latona is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Latona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 276 people with the name Latona, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,162 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 Latona 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 Latona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Latona appears almost entirely female. Of the 273 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Latona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Latona is Black at 53.3%. The next largest groups are White (38.0%) and Two or More Races (5.1%). 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 Latona most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Latona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.3% (147 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 Latona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Latona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Latona 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 Latona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Latona 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 Latona 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 Latona?
Find out how many people share the name Latona on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.