Loraina
A feminine name of unknown origin meaning "shining one" or "bright laurel".
Name Census estimates that about 194 living Americans carry the first name Loraina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Loraina today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Loraina births was 2018 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Loraina. 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
194
~ 1 in 1,766,775 Americans
Peak year
2018
12 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,935
Tracked since 1974
Census
Loraina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 349 people with the first name Loraina, which placed it at #26,600 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
#26,600
National first-name rank
People counted
349
349 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
46.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Loraina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Loraina is Hispanic at 46.4%. The next largest groups are White (39.0%) and Black (6.3%). 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 Loraina 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 Loraina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino46.4% · 162
- White39.0% · 136
- Black or African American6.3% · 22
- Two or more races4.6% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 6
Popularity
Loraina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Loraina from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 64 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Loraina remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Loraina 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 Loraina 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 Loraina
The name Loraina originates from the Late Latin name Laurentia, which was derived from the Roman family name Laurentius. Laurentius itself stems from the Latin word "laurus," meaning "laurel." The laurel plant held significance in ancient Roman culture, where laurel wreaths were awarded to victors and used as symbols of honor and triumph.
In the early centuries of the Christian era, the name Laurentia gained popularity as a female name among Roman Christians. It was borne by several early Christian martyrs, including Saint Laurentia, a Roman woman who was allegedly martyred during the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Valerian in the 3rd century AD.
The name Loraina emerged as a variant spelling of Laurentia, likely influenced by the French and Italian forms of the name, such as Lorraine and Loraine. The earliest recorded instances of the spelling "Loraina" date back to the Middle Ages, appearing in various historical records and documents across Europe.
One notable historical figure with the name Loraina was Loraina Loring (1668-1756), an English writer and poet who published several works in the early 18th century. Another prominent Loraina was Loraina Petrovna (1776-1859), a Russian noblewoman and philanthropist who founded several charitable institutions in St. Petersburg.
In the 19th century, Loraina Gilman (1822-1905) was an American educator and suffragist who played a significant role in establishing the first public high school for girls in Boston. Loraina Hicks (1855-1939) was an American activist and community leader who worked tirelessly for the advancement of African American rights in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Another noteworthy Loraina was Loraina Hickok (1893-1968), a renowned American journalist and close friend of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. Hickok's intimate letters to Roosevelt have shed light on their close personal relationship and Hickok's influence on the First Lady's public image and policies.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Loraina, a name with deep roots in ancient Roman culture and a rich tapestry of historical associations.
People
Loraina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Loraina 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
Loraina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Loraina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 194 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Loraina 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 1,766,775 US residents.
Is Loraina a common name?
We classify Loraina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 198 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Loraina most popular?
The single biggest year for Loraina was 2018, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Loraina is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Loraina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 349 people with the name Loraina, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,600 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 Loraina 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 Loraina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Loraina appears almost entirely female. Of the 356 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Loraina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Loraina is Hispanic at 46.4%. The next largest groups are White (39.0%) and Black (6.3%). 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 Loraina most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Loraina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.4% (162 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 Loraina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Loraina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Loraina 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 Loraina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Loraina 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 Loraina 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 Loraina?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.