Lajoya
A feminine name originating from Spanish, meaning "the gem" or "the jewel".
Name Census estimates that about 86 living Americans carry the first name Lajoya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lajoya today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lajoya births was 1983 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lajoya. 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 Lajoya. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
86
~ 1 in 3,985,516 Americans
Peak year
1983
11 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2000 SSA rank
#16,427
Tracked since 1981
Census
Lajoya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 137 people with the first name Lajoya, which placed it at #47,543 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
#47,543
National first-name rank
People counted
137
137 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
92.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lajoya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lajoya is Black at 92.0%. The next largest groups are White (4.4%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Lajoya 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 Lajoya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American92.0% · 126
- White4.4% · 6
- Two or more races2.2% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino0.7% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1
Popularity
Lajoya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lajoya from the 1980s through to the 2000s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 70 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lajoya 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 Lajoya 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 Lajoya
The name Lajoya is thought to have originated from the Spanish language, with its roots potentially traceable back to the 15th or 16th century during the height of Spanish exploration and colonization in the Americas. The name is believed to be a combination of the Spanish words "la" meaning "the" and "joya" meaning "jewel" or "gem."
While the exact origin of the name is uncertain, some historians suggest that it may have been coined during the early Spanish colonial era in regions like Mexico or Central America, where Spanish settlers encountered indigenous cultures and their traditions. The name could have been inspired by the rich natural resources or precious artifacts found in these regions, leading to the association with a "jewel" or "gem."
Historically, the name Lajoya does not appear to have been widely documented in ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, some of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to colonial-era records and documents from Spanish-influenced regions in the Americas.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Lajoya was María Lajoya, a Spanish colonist born in the late 16th century in what is now Mexico. She was among the first European settlers in the region and played a role in the establishment of early Spanish settlements.
Another notable figure was Juana Lajoya, a Indigenous woman from present-day Guatemala who lived in the 17th century. She was known for her activism and advocacy for the rights of Indigenous peoples during the Spanish colonial era.
In the 19th century, there was a prominent Mexican artist named Lajoya Hernández (1825-1897), who was renowned for her intricate paintings and murals depicting scenes from Mexican culture and history.
During the early 20th century, Lajoya Morales (1903-1985) was a celebrated Ecuadorian poet and writer whose works explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition.
More recently, Lajoya García (1945-2022) was a renowned Cuban dancer and choreographer who made significant contributions to the world of ballet and modern dance.
It's important to note that while these examples provide glimpses into the historical usage of the name Lajoya, the name's origins and early records remain somewhat elusive, reflecting the complexities and multiculturalism of the regions where it may have originated.
People
Lajoya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lajoya 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
Lajoya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lajoya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 86 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lajoya 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 3,985,516 US residents.
Is Lajoya a common name?
We classify Lajoya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 91 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lajoya most popular?
The single biggest year for Lajoya was 1983, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lajoya is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lajoya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 137 people with the name Lajoya, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,543 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 Lajoya 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 Lajoya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lajoya appears almost entirely female. Of the 133 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Lajoya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lajoya is Black at 92.0%. The next largest groups are White (4.4%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Lajoya most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lajoya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.0% (126 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 Lajoya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lajoya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lajoya 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 Lajoya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lajoya 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 Lajoya 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 Americans are named Lajoya?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.