Len
A diminutive form of the masculine name Leonard meaning "brave lion".
Name Census estimates that about 2,868 living Americans carry the first name Len. It is a predominantly male name (97.8% of registrations). The average person named Len today is around 59 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Len births was 1958 (125 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Len. 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 Len with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Len is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 102 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
2.9K
~ 1 in 119,510 Americans
Peak year
1958
125 babies that year
Average age
59
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,994
Tracked since 1880
Census
Len in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,592 people with the first name Len, which placed it at #4,176 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
#4,176
National first-name rank
People counted
4.6K
4,592 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Len
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Len is White at 63.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.5%) and Black (13.1%). 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 Len 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 Len at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.7% · 2,923
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.5% · 710
- Black or African American13.1% · 600
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 190
- Two or more races2.8% · 130
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 39
Gender
Gender distribution for Len
Len leans heavily male at 97.8% of total registrations, but 102 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Len as a male name
- Ranked #9,482 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1960 (121 births)
Len as a female name
- Ranked #8,994 in 1972
- 5 female births in 1972
- Peak: 1964 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Len leans strongly male. 4,024 people counted with this name were male (87.6%), compared with 569 female bearers (12.4%).
Popularity
Len: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Len from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 926 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
Len 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 Len during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Len, while Wisconsin, Tennessee, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Len
The name Len has its origins in the Germanic languages, deriving from the root word "lind," which means "gentle" or "tender." This root word can be found in various ancient Germanic dialects, such as Old English, Old Norse, and Old High German.
The earliest recorded use of the name Len can be traced back to the Middle Ages, where it was a short form of longer names like Leonard or Lendric. These names were particularly popular among the Germanic tribes that inhabited regions of present-day Germany, the Netherlands, and parts of northern Europe.
One notable historical reference to the name Len comes from the Old English epic poem "Beowulf," where a character named Lendric is mentioned. This suggests that the name was in use among the Anglo-Saxons as early as the 8th or 9th century.
In the Middle Ages, the name Len was particularly common in the Low Countries, which today comprise the Netherlands, Belgium, and parts of northern France. During this period, it was often associated with individuals of noble or aristocratic backgrounds.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Len. One of the earliest was Len of Flanders (c. 1020-1054), a Flemish nobleman and military leader who played a significant role in the conflicts between the County of Flanders and the Duchy of Normandy during the 11th century.
Another historical figure with the name Len was Len Blavatnik (1957-), a Ukrainian-born businessman and philanthropist who is one of the wealthiest individuals in the United Kingdom. He made his fortune in the natural resources and media industries.
In the world of sports, Len Dawson (1935-2022) was an American professional football player and coach. He played as a quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.
Len Bias (1963-1986) was a promising American college basketball player who tragically died from a drug overdose shortly after being drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1986.
Len Deighton (1929-), a British author and military historian, is known for his spy novels, including the Harry Palmer series, which was adapted into several successful films.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Len
People
Len + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Len 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
Len: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Len?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,868 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Len 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 119,510 US residents.
Is Len a common name?
We classify Len as "Rare". It ranks above 95% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,608 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Len most popular?
The single biggest year for Len was 1958, when 125 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Len is about 59 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Len in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,592 people with the name Len, or 1.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,176 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 Len 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 Len?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Len leans strongly male. 4,024 people counted with this name were male (87.6%), compared with 569 female bearers (12.4%). 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 Len?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Len is White at 63.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.5%) and Black (13.1%). 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 Len most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Len in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.7% (2,923 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 Len in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Len a male name?
Yes, 97.8% of people registered as Len 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 Len still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Len 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 Len 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 Len?
Want to know how many people share the name Len? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.