Lavelle
Of French origin meaning "hill town" or "town in the valley".
Name Census estimates that about 2,449 living Americans carry the first name Lavelle. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 60.8% of registrations being male. The average person named Lavelle today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lavelle births was 1917 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lavelle. 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 Lavelle with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Lavelle was once a predominantly female name but has become increasingly popular for boys in recent decades.
- • Lavelle sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 139,957 Americans
Peak year
1917
65 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,059
Tracked since 1903
Census
Lavelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,052 people with the first name Lavelle, which placed it at #7,444 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
#7,444
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,052 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
67.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lavelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lavelle is Black at 67.6%. The next largest groups are White (21.8%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Lavelle 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 Lavelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American67.6% · 1,387
- White21.8% · 448
- Two or more races4.9% · 100
- Hispanic or Latino3.8% · 79
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 16
Gender
Gender distribution for Lavelle
Lavelle is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 4,058 total registrations, 2,469 (60.8%) were male and 1,589 (39.2%) were female.
Lavelle as a male name
- Ranked #7,059 in 2024
- 12 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1989 (54 births)
Lavelle as a female name
- Ranked #11,664 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1917 (55 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lavelle on both sides of the split. Of the 2,053 people counted with this name, 1,430 were male (69.7%) and 623 were female (30.3%).
Popularity
Lavelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lavelle from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 536 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
Lavelle 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 Lavelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lavelles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. Ohio, Illinois, California recorded the most babies named Lavelle, while Pennsylvania, Michigan, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 66 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lavelle
The name Lavelle is believed to have originated from the French word "la vallée," which means "the valley." This suggests that the name has its roots in the French language and culture, possibly dating back to the Middle Ages or earlier.
In its earliest form, the name was likely spelled as "Lavalle" or a similar variation. Over time, it evolved into the current spelling of "Lavelle." The name was often associated with people who lived in or near valleys, or those who worked in the valleys, such as farmers or shepherds.
While there are no known direct references to the name Lavelle in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is possible that the name was used informally or locally in various regions of France during medieval times.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Lavelle can be found in the records of the French city of Lyon, where a man named Jean Lavelle was mentioned in a document dated 1452. This suggests that the name was in use as early as the 15th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Lavelle:
1. Michael Lavelle (1492-1567), an Irish Catholic priest and scholar who played a significant role in the preservation of Irish literature and culture during the Renaissance period.
2. René Lavelle (1628-1691), a French philosopher and writer who made significant contributions to the field of metaphysics and was a prominent figure in the intellectual circles of 17th century France.
3. Edouard Lavelle (1867-1935), a French philosopher and educator who was a proponent of the philosophy of personalism and wrote extensively on ethics and the nature of human existence.
4. Zoë Lavelle (1920-2004), a Canadian actress and singer who had a successful career in both theater and film, and was known for her performances in productions such as "The King and I" and "My Fair Lady."
5. Michael Lavelle (born 1948), an Irish author and historian who has written extensively on the history and culture of Ireland, particularly in the areas of folklore and traditional Irish music.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Lavelle throughout history, each contributing to their respective fields and leaving a lasting impact on their communities and societies.
People
Lavelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lavelle 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
Lavelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lavelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,449 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lavelle 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 139,957 US residents.
Is Lavelle a common name?
We classify Lavelle as "Rare". It ranks above 94.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,058 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lavelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Lavelle was 1917, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lavelle is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lavelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,052 people with the name Lavelle, or 0.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,444 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 Lavelle 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 Lavelle?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lavelle on both sides of the split. Of the 2,053 people counted with this name, 1,430 were male (69.7%) and 623 were female (30.3%). 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 Lavelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lavelle is Black at 67.6%. The next largest groups are White (21.8%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Lavelle most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lavelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.6% (1,387 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 Lavelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lavelle a male name?
Yes, 60.8% of people registered as Lavelle in the SSA data are male. 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 Lavelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lavelle 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 Lavelle 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 Lavelle as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Lavelle, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.