Levi
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "joined" or "attached".
Roughly 194,681 people in the United States go by the first name Levi, which ranks #12 nationally when sorted by estimated living bearers. It is a predominantly male name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Levi today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Levi births was 2022 (9,928 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Wesley (194,485).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Levi. 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 Levi with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Levi is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 1,354 girls registered with the name since 1880.
- • Levi is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
195K
~ 1 in 1,761 Americans
Peak year
2022
9,928 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12
Tracked since 1880
Census
Levi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 136,748 people with the first name Levi, which placed it at #414 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
#414
National first-name rank
People counted
137K
136,748 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
45.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Levi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Levi is White at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.4%) and Black (5.8%). 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 Levi 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 Levi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.9% · 103,747
- Hispanic or Latino10.4% · 14,270
- Black or African American5.8% · 7,905
- Two or more races5.4% · 7,328
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 2,115
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1,383
Gender
Gender distribution for Levi
Out of the 206,601 babies given the name Levi since 1880, 99.3% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Levi as a male name
- Ranked #12 in 2024
- 9,513 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (9,861 births)
Levi as a female name
- Ranked #2,614 in 2024
- 67 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (81 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Levi appears almost entirely male. Of the 136,747 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Levi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Levi from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 78,498 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Levi remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Levi 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 Levi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Levis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Levi, while District of Columbia, Delaware, Rhode Island recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 3,914 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Levi
The given name Levi has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew word "lavah," which means "to accompany" or "to join." The name is closely associated with the biblical figure Levi, one of the twelve sons of Jacob and the progenitor of the Levite tribe.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Levi can be found in the Book of Genesis, where it is mentioned as the name of Jacob's third son, born to him and his wife Leah. In the biblical narrative, the Levites were entrusted with the responsibility of serving as priests and assistants to the Israelite priesthood.
One of the most notable figures in history bearing the name Levi was Levi Strauss (1829-1902), the German-American businessman who founded the prestigious Levi Strauss & Co. and is credited with popularizing blue jeans worldwide. His innovative riveted denim pants became an iconic fashion statement and a symbol of American workwear.
Another prominent Levi was Levi Woodbury (1789-1851), an American politician and jurist who served as the 9th Governor of New Hampshire, a U.S. Senator, and the 10th Secretary of the Treasury under President Andrew Jackson.
In the realm of literature, Levi Coffin (1798-1877) was an American Quaker and abolitionist who played a crucial role in the Underground Railroad, helping thousands of enslaved African Americans escape to freedom. He became known as the "President of the Underground Railroad" for his tireless efforts in the anti-slavery movement.
Levi Eskol (1888-1969) was an influential Israeli statesman who served as the third Prime Minister of Israel from 1963 to 1969. He is remembered for his leadership during the tense period leading up to the Six-Day War in 1967.
Levi Montalcini (1909-2012) was an Italian neurologist and Nobel laureate who received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1986 for her groundbreaking work on the discovery of nerve growth factor. Her pioneering research contributed significantly to the understanding of the nervous system and cellular development.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the given name Levi, a name deeply rooted in the Hebrew tradition and associated with figures of religious, political, and cultural significance.
People
Levi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Levi 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
Levi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Levi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 194,681 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Levi 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 1,761 US residents.
Is Levi a common name?
We classify Levi as "Common". It ranks above 99.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 206,601 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Levi most popular?
The single biggest year for Levi was 2022, when 9,928 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Levi is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Levi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 136,748 people with the name Levi, or 45.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #414 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 Levi 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 Levi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Levi appears almost entirely male. Of the 136,747 people counted with this name, 99.3% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Levi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Levi is White at 75.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.4%) and Black (5.8%). 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 Levi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Levi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.9% (103,747 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 Levi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Levi a male name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Levi 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 Levi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Levi 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 Levi 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 common is the name Levi?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.