Lafrance
Of French origin, referring to the country of France.
Name Census estimates that about 66 living Americans carry the first name Lafrance. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 67.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Lafrance today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lafrance births was 1965 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lafrance. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Lafrance. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
66
~ 1 in 5,193,248 Americans
Peak year
1965
10 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
1984 SSA rank
#5,771
Tracked since 1918
Census
Lafrance in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 187 people with the first name Lafrance, which placed it at #40,012 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
#40,012
National first-name rank
People counted
187
187 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lafrance
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lafrance is Black at 89.8%. The next largest groups are White (4.3%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Lafrance 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 Lafrance at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.8% · 168
- White4.3% · 8
- Two or more races2.7% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Lafrance
Lafrance is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 89 total registrations, 29 (32.6%) were male and 60 (67.4%) were female.
Lafrance as a male name
- Ranked #6,899 in 1984
- 5 male births in 1984
- Peak: 1949 (7 births)
Lafrance as a female name
- Ranked #5,771 in 1971
- 9 female births in 1971
- Peak: 1965 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lafrance on both sides of the split. Of the 193 people counted with this name, 100 were male (51.8%) and 93 were female (48.2%).
Popularity
Lafrance: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lafrance from the 1910s through to the 1980s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 37 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lafrance 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 Lafrance 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 Lafrance
The given name Lafrance is of French origin, derived from the phrase "la France," which translates to "France" in English. This name likely emerged in France during the Middle Ages, when the concept of nationhood and national identity began to take shape in Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lafrance can be found in historical documents from the 13th century, where it was used to refer to individuals hailing from the region of France. As travel and migration became more common, the name Lafrance may have been adopted by individuals who had left France but wished to maintain a connection to their homeland.
During the Renaissance period, the name Lafrance gained popularity among French nobility and aristocracy. One notable figure bearing this name was Lafrance de Montmorency, a French nobleman and military leader who lived from 1493 to 1567. He played a significant role in the Italian Wars and was renowned for his bravery and strategic skills.
In the 17th century, the name Lafrance was associated with French explorers and adventurers who ventured into the New World. One such individual was Lafrance Delisle, a French explorer and cartographer born in 1675. He is credited with creating some of the most accurate maps of the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes region during that era.
As the French colonial empire expanded, the name Lafrance also gained prominence in the Americas. Lafrance Louisiane, born in 1701, was a French settler and farmer who established one of the first plantations in the Louisiana Territory. His legacy is remembered in the naming of several towns and parishes throughout the region.
In more recent centuries, the name Lafrance has been associated with various fields, including arts, literature, and politics. Lafrance Rimbaud, a renowned French poet born in 1854, is considered one of the pioneers of the Symbolist movement. His poetic works, such as "Le Bateau Ivre" (The Drunken Boat), have had a lasting impact on modern literature.
Another notable figure with the name Lafrance is Lafrance Mitterrand, a French politician who served as the President of France from 1981 to 1995. His presidency was marked by significant economic reforms and efforts to strengthen France's position within the European Union.
People
Lafrance + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lafrance 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
Lafrance: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lafrance?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 66 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lafrance 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 5,193,248 US residents.
Is Lafrance a common name?
We classify Lafrance as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 89 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lafrance most popular?
The single biggest year for Lafrance was 1965, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lafrance is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lafrance in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 187 people with the name Lafrance, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #40,012 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 Lafrance 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 Lafrance?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lafrance on both sides of the split. Of the 193 people counted with this name, 100 were male (51.8%) and 93 were female (48.2%). 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 Lafrance?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lafrance is Black at 89.8%. The next largest groups are White (4.3%) and Two or More Races (2.7%). 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 Lafrance most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lafrance in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.8% (168 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 Lafrance in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lafrance a female name?
Yes, 67.4% of people registered as Lafrance 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 Lafrance still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lafrance 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 Lafrance 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 have Lafrance as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.