Lory
A diminutive form of the feminine name Laura, derived from the Latin name Laurus meaning "laurel tree".
Name Census estimates that about 1,971 living Americans carry the first name Lory. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Lory today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lory births was 1961 (106 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lory. 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
2.0K
~ 1 in 173,899 Americans
Peak year
1961
106 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
1966 SSA rank
#4,304
Tracked since 1915
Census
Lory in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,673 people with the first name Lory, which placed it at #6,095 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
#6,095
National first-name rank
People counted
2.7K
2,673 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lory
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lory is White at 69.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.3%) and Black (6.8%). 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 Lory 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 Lory at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.3% · 1,852
- Hispanic or Latino15.3% · 408
- Black or African American6.8% · 182
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.9% · 157
- Two or more races2.1% · 55
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 19
Gender
Gender distribution for Lory
Lory leans heavily female at 89.4% of total registrations, but 267 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Lory as a male name
- Ranked #4,304 in 1966
- 5 male births in 1966
- Peak: 1957 (14 births)
Lory as a female name
- Ranked #11,818 in 2022
- 8 female births in 2022
- Peak: 1961 (106 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lory leans strongly female. 2,486 people counted with this name were female (93.1%), compared with 184 male bearers (6.9%).
Popularity
Lory: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lory from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 787 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
Lory 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 Lory during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lorys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, Florida, New York recorded the most babies named Lory, while Utah, Indiana, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 47 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lory
The name Lory is a variant spelling of the name Laurie, which has its origins in the Latin name Laurentius, derived from the name Laurus, meaning "laurel tree." The laurel tree was considered sacred in ancient Rome and was often associated with victory, honor, and success.
The name Lory first appeared in the Middle Ages, particularly in France and England, where it was a popular name for both men and women. It was often used as a diminutive form of the name Laurentius or Lauren.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lory can be found in the Domesday Book, a survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Lori" and is likely a variant spelling of Laurentius.
In the 12th century, a French poet named Lori de Leigni, also known as Chrétien de Troyes, wrote several influential works of Arthurian literature, including the romance "Yvain, the Knight of the Lion." His works helped popularize the use of the name Lori, and its variants, in France and other parts of Europe.
Another notable bearer of the name Lory was Lori di Bicci, an Italian Renaissance painter active in the late 14th and early 15th centuries. His works can be found in various churches and museums in Florence and other parts of Italy.
In the 16th century, Lory Palmerston, an English nobleman and politician, served as a Member of Parliament and was involved in the English Reformation under King Henry VIII.
During the 18th century, Lory Nevel, a French botanist and explorer, made significant contributions to the study of plants and their classification. He is credited with discovering and naming several plant species found in the Caribbean and South America.
In more recent history, Lory Del Santo, an Italian television personality and actress, gained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s for her work in Italian cinema and television shows.
While the name Lory has been more commonly used as a diminutive or nickname for names like Laurence or Lauren, it has also been used as a standalone first name throughout history, with variations in spelling and pronunciation across different cultures and languages.
People
Lory + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lory 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
Lory: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lory?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,971 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lory 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 173,899 US residents.
Is Lory a common name?
We classify Lory as "Rare". It ranks above 93.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,525 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lory most popular?
The single biggest year for Lory was 1961, when 106 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lory is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lory in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,673 people with the name Lory, or 0.89 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,095 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 Lory 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 Lory?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lory leans strongly female. 2,486 people counted with this name were female (93.1%), compared with 184 male bearers (6.9%). 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 Lory?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lory is White at 69.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.3%) and Black (6.8%). 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 Lory most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lory in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.3% (1,852 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 Lory in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lory a female name?
Yes, 89.4% of people registered as Lory 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 Lory still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lory 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 Lory 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 share the name Lory?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.