Lavonna
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a blend or variant of other names.
Name Census estimates that about 1,281 living Americans carry the first name Lavonna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lavonna today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lavonna births was 1963 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lavonna. 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
1.3K
~ 1 in 267,568 Americans
Peak year
1963
48 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
2023 SSA rank
#16,535
Tracked since 1918
Census
Lavonna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,373 people with the first name Lavonna, which placed it at #9,902 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
#9,902
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,373 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lavonna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lavonna is White at 64.6%. The next largest groups are Black (25.4%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Lavonna 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 Lavonna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.6% · 887
- Black or African American25.4% · 349
- Two or more races4.8% · 66
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.6% · 49
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 3
Popularity
Lavonna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lavonna from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 384 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lavonna 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 Lavonna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lavonnas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Oklahoma, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Lavonna, while Tennessee, Ohio, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 21 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lavonna
The name Lavonna is a feminine given name of English origin, derived from the combination of the French name Lavone and the English name Anna. The name Lavone is believed to have its roots in the Old French word "lavande," meaning "lavender."
The earliest recorded use of the name Lavonna can be traced back to the late 19th century in parts of North America, particularly in the United States and Canada. It gained popularity as a distinct name during this period, breaking away from its roots as a variant of more common names like Lavinia or Lavinia Anna.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Lavonna was Lavonna Moore, an American singer and vaudeville performer who was active in the early 20th century. She was born in 1892 and was known for her work in musical theater and vaudeville acts during the 1910s and 1920s.
Another notable Lavonna was Lavonna Forsythe, an American actress and singer who appeared in several Broadway productions and films during the mid-20th century. She was born in 1924 and had a successful career on stage and screen, appearing in musicals such as "Damn Yankees" and "Bye Bye Birdie."
In the field of literature, Lavonna Longstreet was an American author and journalist who wrote several novels and short stories. She was born in 1919 and her works often explored themes of Southern culture and family dynamics.
Lavonna Pearson was an American athlete who excelled in track and field events, particularly in the shot put and discus throw. She competed in the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal in the shot put at the 1968 Games in Mexico City.
Another notable figure with the name was Lavonna Martin, an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She was born in 1945 and co-founded the successful retail chain Stein Mart, which specialized in discount department stores across the United States.
While the name Lavonna has its roots in English and French linguistic origins, it has been embraced and used in various cultures and communities around the world, particularly in North America, where it has gained a distinct identity and legacy over the past century.
People
Lavonna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lavonna 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
Lavonna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lavonna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,281 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lavonna 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 267,568 US residents.
Is Lavonna a common name?
We classify Lavonna as "Rare". It ranks above 91.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,980 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lavonna most popular?
The single biggest year for Lavonna was 1963, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lavonna is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lavonna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,373 people with the name Lavonna, or 0.45 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,902 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 Lavonna 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 Lavonna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lavonna appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,377 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Lavonna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lavonna is White at 64.6%. The next largest groups are Black (25.4%) and Two or More Races (4.8%). 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 Lavonna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lavonna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.6% (887 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 Lavonna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lavonna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lavonna 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 Lavonna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lavonna 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 Lavonna 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 are named Lavonna?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Lavonna at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.