Luann
A feminine name derived from the French nickname "Lou" meaning renowned warrior maiden.
Name Census estimates that about 11,218 living Americans carry the first name Luann. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Luann today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Luann births was 1954 (1,644 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Luann. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Luann is about 65 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Luanns were born before 1971.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 30,554 Americans
Peak year
1954
1,644 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
1954 SSA rank
#3,677
Tracked since 1921
Census
Luann in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 14,309 people with the first name Luann, which placed it at #1,951 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
#1,951
National first-name rank
People counted
14K
14,309 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
94.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Luann
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Luann is White at 94.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.6%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Luann 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 Luann at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.3% · 13,493
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 229
- Two or more races1.6% · 226
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 149
- Black or African American0.8% · 120
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 92
Gender
Gender distribution for Luann
Out of the 15,504 babies given the name Luann since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Luann as a male name
- Ranked #3,677 in 1954
- 6 male births in 1954
- Peak: 1954 (6 births)
Luann as a female name
- Ranked #12,877 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1954 (1,638 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Luann appears almost entirely female. Of the 14,310 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Luann: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Luann from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 8,627 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Luann 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 Luann during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Luanns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 44 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Wisconsin recorded the most babies named Luann, while Hawaii, Delaware, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 295 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Luann
The name Luann has its origins in the French language and culture, derived from the feminine form of the name Louis. The name Louis itself traces its roots back to the Old Frankish "Hlodowic" or "Chlodovech," which means "famous warrior."
In the 9th century, the name Louis gained popularity across Europe due to the renowned Carolingian ruler Charlemagne, whose birth name was Carolus Magnus. Luann, as the feminine form, emerged as a derivative during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Luann can be found in the 12th century, with Luann of Châtillon, a French noblewoman and the wife of Count Raoul I of Vermandois. She played a significant role in the politics of the time and was known for her influence over her husband's decisions.
In literature, the name Luann appears in the 14th century French poem "Le Roman de la Rose," written by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. The poem features a character named Luann, who represents the ideals of courtly love and beauty.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Luann. One of the most famous was Luann de Coligny (1555-1620), a French Protestant noblewoman and daughter of the famous Huguenot leader Gaspard de Coligny. She was known for her courage and resilience during the French Wars of Religion.
Another notable Luann was Luann van Beethoven (1767-1828), the sister of the renowned composer Ludwig van Beethoven. She played an important role in her brother's life, serving as his confidante and caretaker during his later years.
In more recent times, Luann Plozza (1941-2023) was an American actress and singer, best known for her roles in television series such as "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "That Girl." She had a successful career spanning several decades in the entertainment industry.
Luann Hampton Laverty Oberlander (1928-2018) was an American writer and journalist, known for her work as a columnist for The New York Times and her books on parenting and family life. She was a prominent voice on social issues during the latter half of the 20th century.
Luann Simmons (1937-2021) was an American author and professor, renowned for her contributions to the field of women's studies and her work on feminist theory. She played a significant role in shaping the discourse around gender and equality in academia.
People
Luann + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Luann 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
Luann: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Luann?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,218 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Luann 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 30,554 US residents.
Is Luann a common name?
We classify Luann as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 15,504 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Luann most popular?
The single biggest year for Luann was 1954, when 1,644 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Luann is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Luann in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 14,309 people with the name Luann, or 4.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,951 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 Luann 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 Luann?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Luann appears almost entirely female. Of the 14,310 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Luann?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Luann is White at 94.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.6%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Luann most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Luann in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.3% (13,493 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 Luann in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Luann a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Luann 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 Luann still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Luann 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 Luann 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 Luann?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.