Lainie
A feminine diminutive form of the name Elaine, meaning "bright shining one".
Name Census estimates that about 1,821 living Americans carry the first name Lainie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lainie today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lainie births was 1970 (91 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lainie. 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
1.8K
~ 1 in 188,223 Americans
Peak year
1970
91 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,300
Tracked since 1966
Popularity
Lainie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lainie from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 486 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Lainie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lainie 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 Lainie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lainies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. New York, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Lainie, while Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 39 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lainie
The name Lainie is a diminutive form of the feminine name Laina, which itself is a variant spelling of the name Lena or Lina. These names have their roots in the Greek name Helena, derived from the Greek word "helene" meaning light or torch. The name Helena was popularized by the legendary beauty Helen of Troy in ancient Greek mythology.
Lainie likely emerged as a pet form or nickname for Laina or Lena in English-speaking regions, possibly as early as the 18th or 19th century. The addition of the "ie" ending was a common way to create diminutive forms of names during this period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lainie can be found in the works of American author Louisa May Alcott, who wrote the classic novel "Little Women" in 1868. In the book, one of the characters is named Lainie, though it is unclear if Alcott was the first to use this particular spelling.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who have borne the name Lainie. One of the earliest was Lainie Kazan (born 1940), an American actress and singer of Greek and Russian descent, known for her roles in films like "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "The Last Tycoon."
Another prominent Lainie was Lainie Haygo (1943-2022), a Canadian politician and businesswoman who served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta from 1986 to 1993.
In the field of science, Lainie Ross (born 1961) is an American biologist and researcher who has made significant contributions to the study of cancer and stem cell biology.
Lainie Towell (born 1966) is a Canadian sports broadcaster and former professional basketball player who has worked as a commentator for various networks, including ESPN and TSN.
Finally, Lainie Kazan (born 1955), an American actress and singer, is known for her roles in television shows like "Desperate Housewives" and "Girls."
While these are just a few examples, the name Lainie has been used throughout history, with its origins rooted in the ancient Greek name Helena and its various diminutive forms and spellings.
People
Lainie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lainie 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
Lainie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lainie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,821 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lainie 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 188,223 US residents.
Is Lainie a common name?
We classify Lainie as "Rare". It ranks above 93.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,915 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lainie most popular?
The single biggest year for Lainie was 1970, when 91 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lainie is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lainie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lainie 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.