Law
An English name of Anglo-Saxon/Old Norse origin meaning "hill" or "hill law".
Name Census estimates that about 184 living Americans carry the first name Law. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Law today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Law births was 2022 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Law. 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 Law with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
184
~ 1 in 1,862,795 Americans
Peak year
2022
16 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,320
Tracked since 2006
Census
Law in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 697 people with the first name Law, which placed it at #16,253 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
#16,253
National first-name rank
People counted
697
697 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
65.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Law
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Law is Asian/Pacific Islander at 65.6%. The next largest groups are White (21.4%) and Black (7.9%). 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 Law 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 Law at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander65.6% · 457
- White21.4% · 149
- Black or African American7.9% · 55
- Hispanic or Latino3.2% · 22
- Two or more races1.7% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Popularity
Law: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Law from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 91 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Law remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Law 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 Law 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 Law
The name Law originated from the Old English word "lagu," which means "law" or "rule." It first appeared in the 8th century and was used to refer to people who were knowledgeable in legal matters or were responsible for enforcing laws.
In ancient times, the name Law was associated with authority, justice, and order. It was often given to individuals who held positions of power or played a role in establishing and maintaining legal systems within their communities.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Law can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which mentions a man named Law who lived in the 9th century. However, the name gained more prominence during the Middle Ages, when several notable figures bore it.
One such person was Law de Longueville, a Norman knight who fought alongside William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. Another was Law de Burnham, an English judge and legal scholar who lived in the 13th century and wrote extensively on English common law.
During the Renaissance period, the name Law became associated with the burgeoning field of jurisprudence. A notable figure from this era was John Law, a Scottish economist and financial theorist who lived from 1671 to 1729. He is best known for his role in establishing the Banque Générale in France, which ultimately led to the infamous Mississippi Bubble financial crisis.
In the 19th century, the name Law gained popularity in the United States, where several notable figures bore it. One of the most famous was Andrew Law, a American naval officer who served during the War of 1812 and later became a prominent lawyer and politician in Indiana.
Another significant figure was John Law, an American politician and lawyer who served as the 16th Governor of Connecticut from 1842 to 1844. He played a pivotal role in the establishment of the Connecticut Supreme Court and was instrumental in promoting educational reforms in the state.
In more recent times, the name Law has been associated with various fields, including literature, science, and entertainment. One notable bearer was John Law, a British novelist and playwright who lived from 1915 to 2004 and is best known for his satirical works.
Overall, the name Law has a rich history that spans centuries and cultures, reflecting its deep connection to the concepts of order, justice, and legal authority. While its popularity has fluctuated over time, it continues to hold significance as a given name that carries a sense of respect and authority.
People
Law + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Law 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
Law: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Law?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 184 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Law 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 1,862,795 US residents.
Is Law a common name?
We classify Law as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 185 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Law most popular?
The single biggest year for Law was 2022, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Law is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Law in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 697 people with the name Law, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,253 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 Law 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 Law?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Law on both sides of the split. Of the 705 people counted with this name, 505 were male (71.6%) and 200 were female (28.4%). 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 Law?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Law is Asian/Pacific Islander at 65.6%. The next largest groups are White (21.4%) and Black (7.9%). 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 Law most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Law in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.6% (457 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 Law in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Law a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Law 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 Law still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Law 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 Law 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 Law?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.