Lou Gehrig
There are approximately 1 people named Lou Gehrig living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 342,754,338 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Lou with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Gehrig. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
1
1 in 342,754,338
Named Lou
16K
Alive today
Named Gehrig
1.3K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 16K
Rarity: Uncommon
Gender: Unisex
Peak year: 1954
Average age: 65
Estimated bearers: 1.3K
Rarity: Rare
Census rank: #22,573
Per 100K: 0.39
Top ancestry: White (94.7%)
First name trend
Lou: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Lou. The peak year was 1954 with 1,547 births. The average person named Lou today is 65 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Gehrig surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Gehrig, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 94.7%.
- White94.7%
- Hispanic or Latino3.7%
- Two or more races0.6%
- Unknown or suppressed0.5%
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Lou has a living-bearer frequency of 0.0046% of the US population, based on 15,873 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Gehrig appears at a rate of 0.39 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0004%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 1 people with the full name Lou Gehrig. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Lou
FAQ
Lou Gehrig: questions and answers
How many people are named Lou Gehrig?
We estimate approximately 1 people in the United States share the full name Lou Gehrig. That works out to about 1 in 342,754,338 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (0.0046%) with the surname frequency (0.39 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Lou Gehrig?
We classify Lou Gehrig as "Very Rare". About 1 in 342,754,338 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Lou a male or female name?
Lou is predominantly unisex. Out of 38,049 total SSA registrations, 10.5% were male and 89.5% were female. See the full Lou profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.