Lyon
A masculine name of French origin derived from the Latin leo, meaning "lion".
Name Census estimates that about 894 living Americans carry the first name Lyon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Lyon today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lyon births was 2024 (84 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lyon. 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 Lyon with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
894
~ 1 in 383,394 Americans
Peak year
2024
84 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,897
Tracked since 1947
Census
Lyon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 739 people with the first name Lyon, which placed it at #15,530 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
#15,530
National first-name rank
People counted
739
739 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
41.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lyon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lyon is White at 41.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.4%). 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 Lyon 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 Lyon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White41.5% · 307
- Hispanic or Latino18.7% · 138
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.4% · 136
- Black or African American12.6% · 93
- Two or more races7.3% · 54
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 11
Popularity
Lyon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lyon from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 372 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
Lyon 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 Lyon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lyons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Florida, Texas recorded the most babies named Lyon, while Georgia, New York, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 52 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lyon
The name Lyon has its origins in the French language, derived from the Latin name Leo, meaning "lion." It has been in use since ancient times and has a rich history that spans across various cultures and time periods.
The name Lyon is closely tied to the city of Lyon in eastern France, which was founded as a Roman colony in 43 BC under the name Colonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum. The city's name is believed to come from the Celtic word "Lug," meaning "hill" or "high ground," and "dunum," meaning "fortress" or "town."
In Greek mythology, the name Lyon has connections to the mythical creature known as the Nemean Lion, a ferocious beast that terrorized the region of Nemea. This lion was eventually slain by the Greek hero Heracles (Hercules in Roman mythology) as part of his Twelve Labors.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lyon can be found in the Bible's Book of Genesis, where it is mentioned as the name of one of the sons of Gad. In the New Testament, there is a reference to a woman named Lydia, whose name is derived from the same root as Lyon.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Lyon. One of the earliest examples is Lyon Gardiner Tyler (1853-1935), a historian, and the son of the 10th President of the United States, John Tyler. Another prominent figure was Lyon Playfair (1818-1898), a British chemist and politician who served as the Postmaster General of the United Kingdom.
In the realm of literature, Lyon Sprague de Camp (1907-2000) was an American author and biographer known for his works in the science fiction and fantasy genres. Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr. (1924-1935), the grandson of President John Tyler, was a notable historian and author who specialized in the history of the American Civil War.
Finally, Lyon Richardson (1838-1892) was a Union Army officer during the American Civil War and later served as the United States Assistant Secretary of the Treasury.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have carried the name Lyon, a name with a rich cultural heritage and connections to ancient mythology, biblical texts, and various historical figures across different fields and professions.
People
Lyon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lyon 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
Lyon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lyon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 894 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lyon 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 383,394 US residents.
Is Lyon a common name?
We classify Lyon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 908 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lyon most popular?
The single biggest year for Lyon was 2024, when 84 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lyon 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 Lyon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 739 people with the name Lyon, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,530 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 Lyon 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 Lyon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lyon leans strongly male. 703 people counted with this name were male (95.5%), compared with 33 female bearers (4.5%). 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 Lyon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lyon is White at 41.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.4%). 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 Lyon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lyon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.5% (307 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 Lyon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lyon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lyon 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 Lyon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lyon 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 Lyon 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 Lyon?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.