Lady
A feminine name of English origin referring to a woman of noble rank.
Name Census estimates that about 1,044 living Americans carry the first name Lady. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lady today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lady births was 2016 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lady. 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
1.0K
~ 1 in 328,309 Americans
Peak year
2016
48 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,508
Tracked since 1884
Popularity
Lady: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lady from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 248 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Lady remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lady 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 Lady during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ladys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Texas, Tennessee, California recorded the most babies named Lady, while North Carolina, Arkansas, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lady
The name Lady is of English origin and dates back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old English word "hlæfdige," which itself was a compound of "hlaf" meaning "loaf" and "dige" meaning "kneader." The term originally referred to the woman of the household who was responsible for kneading and baking bread.
Over time, the word "lady" evolved to refer to a woman of noble or gentle birth, especially the wife or daughter of a lord or baron. It became a courtesy title used to address women of high social rank or status.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the word "lady" in this sense can be found in the Anglo-Saxon poem "Beowulf," which was likely composed between the 8th and 11th centuries. The poem refers to Queen Wealhtheow as a "lady" or "hlæfdige."
In the 12th century, the French word "dame" (meaning "lady" or "mistress") was introduced into English, and the two terms became somewhat interchangeable. The name Lady also appeared in various religious texts and biblical translations, often referring to the Virgin Mary or other holy women.
Throughout history, there have been numerous notable women who bore the name Lady or were referred to as such due to their noble status. One of the earliest and most famous was Lady Godiva, an 11th-century Anglo-Saxon noblewoman known for her legendary ride through the streets of Coventry, England, to protest oppressive taxation.
Another prominent Lady was Lady Jane Grey, who briefly reigned as Queen of England for nine days in 1553 before being deposed and executed at the age of 16. Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, an 18th-century English aristocrat and writer, was also a significant figure in literature and travel writing.
In the 19th century, Lady Emma Hamilton, the mistress of Lord Nelson, became a famous figure in British history and was celebrated for her beauty and influence. Lady Augusta Byron, the only legitimate child of the poet Lord Byron, was also a notable figure in her own right as a mathematician and computer programmer.
While the name Lady is not as commonly used as a first name today, it remains a prominent title and term of respect in English-speaking cultures, reflecting its long and storied history.
People
Lady + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lady 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
Lady: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lady?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,044 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lady 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 328,309 US residents.
Is Lady a common name?
We classify Lady as "Rare". It ranks above 90.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,048 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lady most popular?
The single biggest year for Lady was 2016, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lady is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lady a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lady 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.
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.