Lubov
A feminine Russian name meaning "love".
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Lubov. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lubov today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lubov births was 1932 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lubov. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Lubov. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
1932
6 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
1997 SSA rank
#13,061
Tracked since 1932
Census
Lubov in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 740 people with the first name Lubov, which placed it at #15,509 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
#15,509
National first-name rank
People counted
740
740 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
97.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lubov
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lubov is White at 97.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.8%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.4%). 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 Lubov 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 Lubov at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White97.7% · 723
- Two or more races1.8% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 1
Popularity
Lubov: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lubov from the 1930s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 11 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lubov 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 Lubov during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lubovs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Lubov
The name Lubov is derived from the Russian word 'lyubov', which translates to 'love' in English. It has its roots in the Slavic languages and is believed to have originated in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia and Ukraine, during the Middle Ages.
The earliest recorded use of the name Lubov can be traced back to the 12th century, where it appeared in various historical documents and manuscripts from the Kievan Rus' region. During this period, the name was commonly used among the nobility and upper classes of society.
One of the most notable historical references to the name Lubov can be found in the Russian epic poem "The Tale of Igor's Campaign," written in the late 12th century. The poem mentions a character named Lubov, who is described as a beautiful and virtuous woman.
In the 14th century, a Russian princess named Lubov Aleksandrovna, daughter of Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky, was married to the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Gediminas. This marriage helped to strengthen the ties between the Russian and Lithuanian ruling families.
Another famous historical figure with the name Lubov was Lubov Petrovna Blok, a Russian noblewoman and the wife of the renowned poet Alexander Blok. She was born in 1881 and played a significant role in supporting her husband's literary career.
In the 19th century, Lubov Andreyevna Shukovskaya, a Russian writer and translator, gained recognition for her work in translating French literature into Russian. She was born in 1828 and made significant contributions to the literary scene of her time.
During the Soviet era, Lubov Pavlovna Kosmodemyanskaya, a Soviet partisan and World War II heroine, became a symbol of resistance against the Nazi occupation. She was born in 1923 and executed by the Nazis at the age of 18 for her involvement in the resistance movement.
The name Lubov has been a popular choice throughout history, particularly in Russia and other Slavic countries, and continues to be widely used today. Its association with the concept of love and its deep historical roots have contributed to its enduring appeal.
People
Lubov + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lubov 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
Lubov: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lubov?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lubov 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Lubov a common name?
We classify Lubov as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lubov most popular?
The single biggest year for Lubov was 1932, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lubov is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lubov in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 740 people with the name Lubov, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,509 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 Lubov 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 Lubov?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lubov appears almost entirely female. Of the 741 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Lubov?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lubov is White at 97.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (1.8%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.4%). 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 Lubov most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lubov in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.7% (723 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 Lubov in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lubov a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lubov 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 Lubov still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lubov 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 Lubov 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 common is the name Lubov?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.