Lavera
An English feminine name of obscure origin, possibly meaning "the truthful one".
Name Census estimates that about 799 living Americans carry the first name Lavera. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lavera today is around 61 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lavera births was 1925 (77 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lavera. 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
799
~ 1 in 428,979 Americans
Peak year
1925
77 babies that year
Average age
61
years old
2023 SSA rank
#14,383
Tracked since 1895
Census
Lavera in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,018 people with the first name Lavera, which placed it at #12,275 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
#12,275
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,018 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lavera
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lavera is White at 52.6%. The next largest groups are Black (40.9%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.6%). 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 Lavera 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 Lavera at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.6% · 535
- Black or African American40.9% · 416
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 26
- Two or more races2.5% · 25
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 1
Popularity
Lavera: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lavera 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 653 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
Lavera 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 Lavera during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Laveras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. Texas, Iowa, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Lavera, while Michigan, Minnesota, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lavera
The given name Lavera has its roots in the Latin language. It is believed to have originated as a combination of two Latin words: "laus" meaning "praise" or "honor," and "vera" meaning "true" or "genuine." This linguistic fusion suggests that the name Lavera symbolizes a person who is genuinely praiseworthy or truly honorable.
In the early medieval period, the name Lavera gained popularity across various regions of Europe, particularly in areas influenced by Latin culture and the Roman Catholic Church. It was commonly bestowed upon female infants, carrying the connotation of virtue, integrity, and admiration.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lavera can be traced back to the 9th century, when it was mentioned in the chronicles of a Benedictine monastery in northern Italy. These chronicles documented the life of a nun named Lavera, who was revered for her unwavering devotion and charitable deeds.
Throughout the centuries, several notable figures have borne the name Lavera. In the 12th century, Lavera of Mainz was a German abbess renowned for her wisdom and leadership in the Benedictine order. Another prominent figure was Lavera de Montfort, a 13th-century French noblewoman who played a significant role in the Albigensian Crusade.
During the Renaissance period, Lavera Borghese (1573-1642) was an Italian artist and patron of the arts, known for her exquisite portraits and her support of innovative painters and sculptors. In the 18th century, Lavera Beaumont (1711-1780) was a celebrated English author and playwright, whose works explored themes of morality and social commentary.
More recently, in the 20th century, Lavera Harden (1915-1984) was an American civil rights activist and educator, who dedicated her life to promoting equality and advocating for better educational opportunities for underprivileged communities.
While these are just a few examples, the name Lavera has been carried by many individuals throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human endeavor. The name's enduring presence serves as a testament to its timeless appeal and the values it embodies.
People
Lavera + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lavera 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
Lavera: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lavera?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 799 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lavera 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 428,979 US residents.
Is Lavera a common name?
We classify Lavera as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,618 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lavera most popular?
The single biggest year for Lavera was 1925, when 77 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lavera is about 61 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lavera in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,018 people with the name Lavera, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,275 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 Lavera 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 Lavera?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lavera appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,016 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Lavera?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lavera is White at 52.6%. The next largest groups are Black (40.9%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.6%). 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 Lavera most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lavera in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.6% (535 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 Lavera in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lavera a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lavera 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 Lavera still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lavera 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 Lavera 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 Lavera as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Lavera, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.