Lorne
Of Germanic origin meaning "grove" or "small wood".
Name Census estimates that about 3,214 living Americans carry the first name Lorne. It is a predominantly male name (98.8% of registrations). The average person named Lorne today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lorne births was 1965 (188 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lorne. 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 Lorne with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.2K
~ 1 in 106,644 Americans
Peak year
1965
188 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,706
Tracked since 1903
Census
Lorne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,313 people with the first name Lorne, which placed it at #5,243 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
#5,243
National first-name rank
People counted
3.3K
3,313 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lorne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lorne is White at 73.1%. The next largest groups are Black (18.1%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Lorne 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 Lorne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.1% · 2,421
- Black or African American18.1% · 601
- Two or more races3.5% · 116
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 81
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 43
Gender
Gender distribution for Lorne
Lorne leans heavily male at 98.8% of total registrations, but 50 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Lorne as a male name
- Ranked #11,761 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1966 (186 births)
Lorne as a female name
- Ranked #11,706 in 1985
- 5 female births in 1985
- Peak: 1928 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lorne leans strongly male. 3,179 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 131 female bearers (4.0%).
Popularity
Lorne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lorne from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,458 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lorne 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 Lorne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lornes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 29 states and territories. California, Michigan, New York recorded the most babies named Lorne, while West Virginia, Wisconsin, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 50 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lorne
The name Lorne is believed to have its origins in the Scottish Gaelic language, where it is derived from the word "lorn," meaning a basin or a meadow. This name is thought to have emerged in the Middle Ages, likely in the 12th or 13th century, in the Scottish Highlands and surrounding areas.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lorne can be found in the 14th century, when it was used as a territorial designation for the region of Lorn in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. This area was once part of the ancient Kingdom of Dalriada, a Gaelic overkingdom that spanned parts of western Scotland and northeastern Ireland.
In the 16th century, the name Lorne gained prominence through its association with John Stewart, Lord of Lorne, who later became the Earl of Atholl. This noble lineage helped to establish Lorne as a given name among the Scottish aristocracy and gentry.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Lorne. One of the earliest was Lorne Campbell, a Scottish nobleman who lived in the 15th century and served as the Lord of Argyll. Another notable figure was Lorne Michaels, born in 1944, who is a Canadian-American television producer and screenwriter, best known as the creator and executive producer of the long-running sketch comedy show "Saturday Night Live."
In the literary world, Lorne Pierce (1890-1961) was a Canadian editor, poet, and anthologist, who played a significant role in promoting Canadian literature during the early 20th century. Lorne Greene (1915-1987) was a Canadian actor and singer, best known for his portrayal of Ben Cartwright in the iconic Western television series "Bonanza."
Lorne Michaels Lipowitz (1928-2009), better known as Lorne Lipowitz, was a South African-born American academic and author, who made significant contributions to the field of criminology and criminal justice.
While the name Lorne has its roots in Scottish Gaelic culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and gained popularity in various parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries with historical ties to the British Isles.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Lorne
People
Lorne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lorne 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
Lorne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lorne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,214 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lorne 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 106,644 US residents.
Is Lorne a common name?
We classify Lorne as "Rare". It ranks above 95.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,347 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lorne most popular?
The single biggest year for Lorne was 1965, when 188 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lorne is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lorne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,313 people with the name Lorne, or 1.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,243 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 Lorne 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 Lorne?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lorne leans strongly male. 3,179 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 131 female bearers (4.0%). 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 Lorne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lorne is White at 73.1%. The next largest groups are Black (18.1%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Lorne most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lorne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.1% (2,421 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 Lorne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lorne a male name?
Yes, 98.8% of people registered as Lorne 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 Lorne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lorne 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 Lorne 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 Lorne?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.