Lawanda
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from Lavender.
Name Census estimates that about 9,353 living Americans carry the first name Lawanda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lawanda today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lawanda births was 1977 (598 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lawanda. 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
9.4K
~ 1 in 36,646 Americans
Peak year
1977
598 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
1977 SSA rank
#5,544
Tracked since 1917
Census
Lawanda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,712 people with the first name Lawanda, which placed it at #2,696 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
#2,696
National first-name rank
People counted
8.7K
8,712 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
73.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lawanda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lawanda is Black at 73.2%. The next largest groups are White (22.2%) and Two or More Races (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 Lawanda 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 Lawanda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American73.2% · 6,381
- White22.2% · 1,938
- Two or more races2.6% · 225
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 96
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 65
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Lawanda
Out of the 12,099 babies given the name Lawanda since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Lawanda as a male name
- Ranked #5,544 in 1977
- 6 male births in 1977
- Peak: 1977 (6 births)
Lawanda as a female name
- Ranked #16,634 in 2021
- 5 female births in 2021
- Peak: 1977 (592 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lawanda appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,713 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Lawanda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lawanda from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 4,539 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
Lawanda 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 Lawanda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lawandas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 28 states and territories. Texas, Georgia, Illinois recorded the most babies named Lawanda, while Connecticut, Massachusetts, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 348 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lawanda
The name Lawanda is believed to have originated from the African-American community in the United States, likely emerging in the early 20th century. Its roots can be traced back to the combination of the French name "Laura" and the English name "Wanda," both of which were popular during that time period.
While the exact origins are unclear, some historians suggest that Lawanda may have been derived from the French phrase "la wanda," which roughly translates to "the wanderer" or "the traveler." This could be a reference to the African-American experience of migration and the search for a better life.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lawanda dates back to the 1920s, when it appeared in census records and birth certificates across various states in the southern United States. However, it wasn't until the mid-20th century that the name gained wider popularity.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Lawanda. One such person was Lawanda Dumore (1943-2016), an American entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Urban Economic Development Corporation in Los Angeles, dedicated to supporting minority-owned businesses.
Another prominent figure was Lawanda Page (1920-2002), a vocalist and actress who performed alongside legendary artists like Duke Ellington and Count Basie during the Harlem Renaissance era. Her contributions to the world of jazz and blues were widely celebrated.
In the literary realm, Lawanda Jackson (1942-2019) was an acclaimed author and educator, known for her works exploring African-American culture and identity, including the novel "Our Kind of People" and the memoir "Black Girl Linguistic Play."
The name Lawanda also holds significance in the world of sports. Lawanda Greene (born 1953) was a trailblazing athlete who excelled in track and field events, earning multiple medals at international competitions throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
Lastly, Lawanda Ravoira (born 1958) is a renowned author and advocate for women's rights, whose works have shed light on issues of domestic violence and social justice. Her empowering memoir, "A Life Unburdened," has inspired countless readers.
People
Lawanda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lawanda 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
Lawanda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lawanda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,353 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lawanda 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 36,646 US residents.
Is Lawanda a common name?
We classify Lawanda as "Rare". It ranks above 97.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,099 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lawanda most popular?
The single biggest year for Lawanda was 1977, when 598 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lawanda is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lawanda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,712 people with the name Lawanda, or 2.88 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,696 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 Lawanda 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 Lawanda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lawanda appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,713 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Lawanda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lawanda is Black at 73.2%. The next largest groups are White (22.2%) and Two or More Races (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 Lawanda most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lawanda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.2% (6,381 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 Lawanda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lawanda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lawanda 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 Lawanda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lawanda 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 Lawanda 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 the name Lawanda?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.