Lenna
An English feminine name derived from Latin meaning "becoming calm and bright".
Name Census estimates that about 2,174 living Americans carry the first name Lenna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lenna today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lenna births was 2024 (130 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lenna. 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 Lenna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 157,661 Americans
Peak year
2024
130 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,606
Tracked since 1880
Census
Lenna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,054 people with the first name Lenna, which placed it at #7,439 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
#7,439
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,054 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lenna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lenna is White at 73.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.2%) and Black (6.4%). 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 Lenna 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 Lenna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.4% · 1,507
- Hispanic or Latino10.2% · 210
- Black or African American6.4% · 131
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.9% · 101
- Two or more races4.3% · 88
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 17
Popularity
Lenna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lenna from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 544 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lenna 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 Lenna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lennas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Lenna, while West Virginia, South Carolina, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lenna
The name Lenna has its roots in the Germanic languages, specifically Old Norse and Old English. It is believed to have originated from the word "lind," which means "lime tree" or "linden tree." The name was likely given to individuals who lived near or were associated with these trees, which were abundant in Northern Europe during ancient times.
In Old Norse, the name was spelled "Linna," while in Old English, it was written as "Lēnna." These variations suggest that the name has been in use for centuries, possibly dating back to the early medieval period or even earlier.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lenna can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book mentions a landowner named Lenna, indicating that the name was already in use among the Anglo-Saxon population at that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Lenna. One of the earliest known was Lenna of Sempringham (c. 1130 - c. 1190), an English noblewoman who founded the Gilbertine Order, a religious order of monks and nuns. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
Another famous Lenna was Lenna Philipps (1596 - 1664), a Welsh poet and translator who was known for her works in both Welsh and English. Her translations of religious texts helped to popularize the Welsh language during a time when it was facing decline.
In the 19th century, Lenna Bostwick (1830 - 1907) was an American abolitionist and suffragist. She was actively involved in the Underground Railroad, helping to smuggle enslaved people to freedom, and also worked tirelessly for women's right to vote.
Lenna Dennis (1891 - 1972) was a British actress and singer who appeared in various stage productions and films during the early 20th century. She is particularly remembered for her role in the 1931 film "The Ghost Train."
More recently, Lenna Lowe (1902 - 1982) was a Canadian painter and illustrator known for her vibrant depictions of urban life and landscapes. Her works are part of the collections of several renowned art museums in Canada and the United States.
While the name Lenna has waxed and waned in popularity over the centuries, it has endured as a unique and meaningful moniker, reflecting its ancient Germanic origins and the rich cultural heritage associated with it.
People
Lenna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lenna 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
Lenna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lenna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,174 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lenna 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 157,661 US residents.
Is Lenna a common name?
We classify Lenna as "Rare". It ranks above 94% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,257 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lenna most popular?
The single biggest year for Lenna was 2024, when 130 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lenna is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lenna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,054 people with the name Lenna, or 0.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,439 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 Lenna 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 Lenna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lenna appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,049 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Lenna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lenna is White at 73.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.2%) and Black (6.4%). 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 Lenna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lenna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.4% (1,507 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 Lenna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lenna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lenna 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 Lenna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lenna 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 Lenna 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 called Lenna?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.