Lucelia
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "light" or "bright".
Name Census estimates that about 125 living Americans carry the first name Lucelia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lucelia today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lucelia births was 2022 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lucelia. 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
125
~ 1 in 2,742,035 Americans
Peak year
2022
14 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,283
Tracked since 1909
Census
Lucelia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 319 people with the first name Lucelia, which placed it at #28,252 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
#28,252
National first-name rank
People counted
319
319 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
44.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lucelia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lucelia is Hispanic at 44.2%. The next largest groups are White (41.7%) and Black (8.8%). 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 Lucelia 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 Lucelia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino44.2% · 141
- White41.7% · 133
- Black or African American8.8% · 28
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 6
- Two or more races1.6% · 5
Popularity
Lucelia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lucelia from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 47 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
Lucelia 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 Lucelia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lucelia
The name Lucelia is a feminine name of Latin origin, derived from the ancient Roman name Lucelius. It is believed to have originated during the Roman Empire period, around the 1st century AD. The name Lucelius itself is thought to be derived from the Latin word "lux," meaning "light" or "brightness."
In ancient Roman culture, names often held symbolic meanings or were associated with certain virtues or characteristics. The name Lucelia may have been chosen to represent qualities such as radiance, illumination, or clarity. However, there are no definitive records of the name's exact meaning or significance in ancient Roman society.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Lucelia can be found in various ancient Roman inscriptions and historical records from the 1st to 3rd centuries AD. One notable mention is of a Roman woman named Lucelia Polla, who lived during the 2nd century AD and was the wife of a Roman senator.
Throughout history, the name Lucelia has been borne by several notable individuals, though not as widely as some other Roman names. One of the earliest known figures was Lucelia, a Roman matron who lived during the 1st century BC and was praised for her virtue and wisdom by the famous philosopher Cicero.
Another notable Lucelia was a 3rd-century Christian martyr from Rome, who was executed during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Diocletian. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, and her feast day is celebrated on June 25th.
In the 16th century, Lucelia Pico della Mirandola was an Italian noblewoman and poet, known for her intellectual pursuits and literary works. She was born in 1498 and was part of the influential Pico della Mirandola family.
Moving forward in time, Lucelia Schiavonetti was an Italian engraver and printmaker who lived from 1776 to 1858. She was renowned for her intricate engravings and made significant contributions to the art of printmaking in the 19th century.
Lastly, Lucelia Agnes Royce was an American educator and writer who lived from 1883 to 1967. She was a pioneer in the field of childhood education and authored several books on teaching methods and child development.
While not as common as some other names, Lucelia has a rich history rooted in ancient Roman culture and has been carried by notable figures throughout various periods, ranging from Christian martyrs to artists and educators.
People
Lucelia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lucelia 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
Lucelia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lucelia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 125 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lucelia 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 2,742,035 US residents.
Is Lucelia a common name?
We classify Lucelia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 185 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lucelia most popular?
The single biggest year for Lucelia was 2022, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lucelia is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lucelia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 319 people with the name Lucelia, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,252 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 Lucelia 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 Lucelia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lucelia appears almost entirely female. Of the 326 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Lucelia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lucelia is Hispanic at 44.2%. The next largest groups are White (41.7%) and Black (8.8%). 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 Lucelia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Lucelia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.2% (141 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 Lucelia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lucelia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lucelia 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 Lucelia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lucelia 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 Lucelia 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 Lucelia?
Want to know how many Americans are named Lucelia? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.