Lorin
A feminine name meaning "laurel plant" or "laurel wreath".
Name Census estimates that about 5,148 living Americans carry the first name Lorin. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 63.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Lorin today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lorin births was 1989 (139 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lorin. 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 Lorin with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Lorin started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
- • Lorin sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
5.1K
~ 1 in 66,580 Americans
Peak year
1989
139 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,278
Tracked since 1880
Census
Lorin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,165 people with the first name Lorin, which placed it at #3,821 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
#3,821
National first-name rank
People counted
5.2K
5,165 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lorin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lorin is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.2%) and Hispanic (4.6%). 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 Lorin 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 Lorin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.4% · 4,202
- Black or African American7.2% · 374
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 238
- Two or more races3.9% · 200
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 86
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 65
Gender
Gender distribution for Lorin
Lorin is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 7,395 total registrations, 4,728 (63.9%) were male and 2,667 (36.1%) were female.
Lorin as a male name
- Ranked #11,760 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1965 (111 births)
Lorin as a female name
- Ranked #9,278 in 2024
- 11 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1989 (107 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lorin on both sides of the split. Of the 5,169 people counted with this name, 2,625 were male (50.8%) and 2,544 were female (49.2%).
Popularity
Lorin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lorin from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 998 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lorin 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 Lorin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lorins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 29 states and territories. California, Utah, Texas recorded the most babies named Lorin, while New Jersey, Indiana, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 71 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lorin
The name Lorin has its roots in the Latin language and is derived from the word "laurus," which means "laurel." The laurel tree was a symbol of victory and honor in ancient Roman culture, and the name was often given to children in the hope that they would grow up to achieve great things.
During the Roman era, the name Lorin was primarily used by wealthy and influential families. It was associated with nobility and prestige, and many notable figures in Roman history bore this name. One of the most famous was Lorin Flavius, a Roman statesman and philosopher who lived in the 1st century AD.
As Christianity spread throughout Europe, the name Lorin also gained popularity among followers of the faith. It was often given to children born on or around the feast day of St. Lawrence, a 3rd-century Christian martyr whose name is derived from the same Latin root.
In the Middle Ages, the name Lorin was commonly found in various regions of Europe, including France, Italy, and Spain. One notable bearer of the name was Lorin de' Medici, a member of the famous Medici family of Florence, who lived in the 15th century.
During the Renaissance period, the name Lorin continued to be used across Europe, particularly in Italy and France. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Lorin the Magnificent, a French nobleman and military leader who played a pivotal role in the Italian Wars of the 16th century.
In more recent times, the name Lorin has been associated with several notable figures, including Lorin Maazel, an American conductor and violinist who lived from 1930 to 2014. Another notable bearer of the name was Lorin Hollander, an American pianist and composer who lived from 1936 to 2020.
Throughout its long history, the name Lorin has carried connotations of honor, victory, and achievement, reflecting its origins in the ancient Roman symbol of the laurel tree. Its enduring popularity across various cultures and time periods is a testament to its timeless appeal and rich historical significance.
People
Lorin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lorin 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
Lorin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lorin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,148 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lorin 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 66,580 US residents.
Is Lorin a common name?
We classify Lorin as "Rare". It ranks above 96.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,395 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lorin most popular?
The single biggest year for Lorin was 1989, when 139 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lorin is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lorin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,165 people with the name Lorin, or 1.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,821 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 Lorin 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 Lorin?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lorin on both sides of the split. Of the 5,169 people counted with this name, 2,625 were male (50.8%) and 2,544 were female (49.2%). 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 Lorin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lorin is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Black (7.2%) and Hispanic (4.6%). 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 Lorin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lorin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.4% (4,202 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 Lorin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lorin a male name?
Yes, 63.9% of people registered as Lorin 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 Lorin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lorin 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 Lorin 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 have the name Lorin?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.