Lambert
A masculine given name having Germanic origins meaning "bright land".
Name Census estimates that about 1,441 living Americans carry the first name Lambert. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Lambert today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lambert births was 1918 (98 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lambert. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Lambert with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 237,859 Americans
Peak year
1918
98 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,476
Tracked since 1881
Census
Lambert in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,827 people with the first name Lambert, which placed it at #8,059 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
#8,059
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,827 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
42.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lambert
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lambert is White at 42.4%. The next largest groups are Black (29.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.6%). 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 Lambert 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 Lambert at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White42.4% · 774
- Black or African American29.2% · 534
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.6% · 267
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.6% · 103
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 96
- Two or more races2.9% · 53
Popularity
Lambert: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lambert 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 666 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lambert 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 Lambert during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lamberts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan recorded the most babies named Lambert, while West Virginia, Oklahoma, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lambert
The name Lambert has its origins in the Germanic languages, derived from the elements "lant" meaning "land" and "berht" meaning "bright" or "illustrious." It emerged during the medieval period, initially gaining popularity within Germanic-speaking regions of Europe.
The earliest recorded use of the name can be traced back to the 7th century, with references found in Frankish and Alamannic chronicles. During this time, Lambert was primarily used by members of the nobility and ruling classes, reflecting its connotations of prestige and landholding status.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing this name was Saint Lambert, the Bishop of Maastricht, who lived in the 7th century. His martyrdom and subsequent veneration as a saint contributed significantly to the spread of the name across Western Europe, particularly in regions influenced by Christianity.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Lambert maintained its prominence, appearing in various historical records and chronicles. Among the individuals who bore this name were Lambert, Count of Nantes (c. 950-1008), a prominent French nobleman and military leader during the reign of Robert II of France.
In later centuries, the name continued to be used across Europe, with several notable bearers contributing to various fields. Lambert Lombard (1505-1566) was a renowned Flemish Renaissance painter and architect, while Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet (1796-1874) was a prominent Belgian mathematician and statistician, known for his contributions to the field of social statistics.
Another influential figure was Lambert Massart (1811-1892), a Belgian botanist and microbiologist who made significant contributions to the study of plant physiology and microbiology. His work on the cytology of plant cells and the identification of microorganisms in fermentation processes earned him recognition in the scientific community.
In the 20th century, Lambert Hitchcock (1892-1976) was an American anthropologist and archaeologist known for his extensive research on the indigenous cultures of the American Southwest and his work on the pueblo ruins of Chaco Canyon.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who carried the name Lambert throughout history, reflecting its enduring presence and cultural significance across various regions and time periods.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Lambert
People
Lambert + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lambert 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
Lambert: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lambert?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,441 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lambert 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 237,859 US residents.
Is Lambert a common name?
We classify Lambert as "Rare". It ranks above 92.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,503 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lambert most popular?
The single biggest year for Lambert was 1918, when 98 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lambert is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lambert in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,827 people with the name Lambert, or 0.60 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,059 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 Lambert 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 Lambert?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lambert leans strongly male. 1,800 people counted with this name were male (98.3%), compared with 32 female bearers (1.7%). 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 Lambert?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lambert is White at 42.4%. The next largest groups are Black (29.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (14.6%). 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 Lambert most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lambert in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.4% (774 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 Lambert in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lambert a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lambert in the SSA data are male. 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 Lambert still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lambert 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 Lambert 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 common is the name Lambert?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Lambert on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.