Loran
Of unknown origin and meaning, it may be a variant of Loren.
Name Census estimates that about 2,437 living Americans carry the first name Loran. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 82.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Loran today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Loran births was 1943 (79 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Loran. 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 Loran with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 140,646 Americans
Peak year
1943
79 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,395
Tracked since 1880
Census
Loran in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,577 people with the first name Loran, which placed it at #6,261 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
#6,261
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,577 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Loran
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Loran is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Black (8.6%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Loran 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 Loran at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.0% · 2,113
- Black or African American8.6% · 222
- Hispanic or Latino3.7% · 95
- Two or more races3.6% · 92
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 21
Gender
Gender distribution for Loran
Loran leans heavily male at 82.0% of total registrations, but 817 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Loran as a male name
- Ranked #13,395 in 2023
- 5 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1943 (79 births)
Loran as a female name
- Ranked #14,907 in 2018
- 6 female births in 2018
- Peak: 1989 (42 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Loran on both sides of the split. Of the 2,571 people counted with this name, 1,688 were male (65.7%) and 883 were female (34.3%).
Popularity
Loran: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Loran from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 609 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Loran 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 Loran during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lorans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Loran, while Wisconsin, Washington, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 35 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Loran
The name Loran has its origins in the ancient Etruscan civilization of Italy, dating back to the 8th century BC. It is believed to be derived from the Etruscan word "laurana," which means "laurel wreath." In ancient times, laurel wreaths were symbols of victory and honor, often worn by leaders and successful warriors.
Loran was a relatively uncommon name among the Etruscans, but it did appear in some historical records and inscriptions from that era. One notable reference is found in the Etruscan tomb inscriptions of Cerveteri, where a man named Loran is mentioned as a skilled artisan.
As the Etruscan culture was eventually absorbed into the Roman Empire, the name Loran likely spread to other parts of Italy and the Mediterranean region. However, it remained a relatively rare name throughout the ancient and medieval periods.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Loran comes from the 12th century, when a monk named Loran de Montferrat lived in a monastery in northern Italy. He is known for his writings on philosophy and theology, which were influential in his time.
In the 16th century, a Venetian merchant named Loran Contarini achieved some fame for his successful trading ventures with the Ottoman Empire. He is credited with helping to establish strong economic ties between Venice and the Middle East.
During the Renaissance period, a Italian artist named Loran Beccafumi (1486-1551) became well-known for his frescoes and paintings, particularly those depicting religious scenes and Biblical stories.
Another notable individual with the name Loran was a French military officer, Loran de Montauban (1608-1675), who fought in the Thirty Years' War and later served as a diplomat for King Louis XIV.
In more recent times, one of the most famous individuals named Loran was the American inventor and engineer, Loran C. Gross (1890-1981), who developed the Loran navigation system used for maritime and aviation navigation during World War II and beyond.
While the name Loran has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has been carried by individuals from various backgrounds and professions, reflecting its ancient roots and the diverse cultures it has touched over the centuries.
People
Loran + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Loran 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
Loran: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Loran?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,437 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Loran 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 140,646 US residents.
Is Loran a common name?
We classify Loran as "Rare". It ranks above 94.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,531 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Loran most popular?
The single biggest year for Loran was 1943, when 79 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Loran 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 Loran in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,577 people with the name Loran, or 0.85 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,261 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 Loran 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 Loran?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Loran on both sides of the split. Of the 2,571 people counted with this name, 1,688 were male (65.7%) and 883 were female (34.3%). 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 Loran?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Loran is White at 82.0%. The next largest groups are Black (8.6%) and Hispanic (3.7%). 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 Loran most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Loran in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.0% (2,113 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 Loran in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Loran a male name?
Yes, 82.0% of people registered as Loran 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 Loran still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Loran 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 Loran 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 Americans are named Loran?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.