Ladeja
Feminine name of unknown origin, possibly a unique coinage.
Name Census estimates that about 272 living Americans carry the first name Ladeja. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ladeja today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ladeja births was 1996 (43 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ladeja. 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
272
~ 1 in 1,260,126 Americans
Peak year
1996
43 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2008 SSA rank
#14,668
Tracked since 1992
Census
Ladeja in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 248 people with the first name Ladeja, which placed it at #33,395 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
#33,395
National first-name rank
People counted
248
248 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
93.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ladeja
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ladeja is Black at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and White (2.4%). 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 Ladeja 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 Ladeja at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American93.5% · 232
- Two or more races3.6% · 9
- White2.4% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 1
Popularity
Ladeja: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ladeja from the 1990s through to the 2000s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 164 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Ladeja remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ladeja 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 Ladeja during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ladejas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, Florida, Illinois recorded the most babies named Ladeja, while Louisiana, Illinois, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ladeja
The name Ladeja is an intriguing one with a rich history that spans multiple cultures and languages. Its origins can be traced back to the ancient Slavic languages, where it was a variant of the name Lada. In Slavic mythology, Lada was the goddess of love, beauty, and harmony, revered for her ability to bring joy and happiness to those around her.
As the Slavic peoples migrated across Eastern Europe, the name Ladeja evolved and took on different forms. In some regions, it was adapted as Ladeyah or Ladeya, while in others, it maintained its more traditional spelling. Regardless of the variation, the name continued to carry the connotations of beauty, grace, and femininity that were so closely associated with the goddess Lada.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ladeja can be found in the chronicles of a 12th-century Serbian noble family. Here, it was bestowed upon a daughter whose beauty and charm were said to have captivated the hearts of many suitors. Throughout the centuries, the name appeared in various historical records, often associated with women of exceptional beauty and virtue.
Among the notable figures who bore the name Ladeja was a 16th-century Bohemian noblewoman known for her patronage of the arts and her support of the Renaissance movement. Her name, Ladeja Rosenberg, graced the pages of numerous literary works and artistic masterpieces of the time.
In the 18th century, a Russian ballet dancer named Ladeja Ivanovna Semyonova rose to prominence as one of the most celebrated prima ballerinas of her era. Her graceful movements and captivating stage presence earned her widespread acclaim, and she was often referred to as the "Goddess of Dance."
Another notable bearer of the name was Ladeja Kovalevskaya, a 19th-century Russian mathematician and writer. Her groundbreaking contributions to the field of mathematics earned her recognition as one of the most influential scientific minds of her time, and she paved the way for future generations of women in academia.
During the early 20th century, a Polish artist named Ladeja Przybylska gained renown for her vibrant and emotive paintings. Her works, which often depicted scenes of everyday life and the natural world, captured the essence of her homeland and the beauty of its people.
Throughout its history, the name Ladeja has been imbued with a sense of elegance, grace, and artistic expression. From ancient goddesses to modern-day trailblazers, those who have carried this name have left an indelible mark on the world around them, embodying the very essence of beauty and inspiration that it represents.
People
Ladeja + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ladeja 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
Ladeja: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ladeja?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 272 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ladeja 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 1,260,126 US residents.
Is Ladeja a common name?
We classify Ladeja as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 279 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ladeja most popular?
The single biggest year for Ladeja was 1996, when 43 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ladeja is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ladeja in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 248 people with the name Ladeja, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,395 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 Ladeja 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 Ladeja?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ladeja leans strongly female. 251 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Ladeja?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ladeja is Black at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.6%) and White (2.4%). 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 Ladeja most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Ladeja in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.5% (232 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 Ladeja in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ladeja a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ladeja 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 Ladeja still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ladeja 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 Ladeja 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 are called Ladeja?
You can see how many people share the name Ladeja on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.