Lanard
A unique name possibly of French origin, with an uncertain meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 329 living Americans carry the first name Lanard. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Lanard today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lanard births was 1979 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lanard. 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
329
~ 1 in 1,041,806 Americans
Peak year
1979
16 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2019 SSA rank
#13,296
Tracked since 1965
Census
Lanard in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 282 people with the first name Lanard, which placed it at #30,717 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
#30,717
National first-name rank
People counted
282
282 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
94.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lanard
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lanard is Black at 94.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.5%) and White (1.1%). 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 Lanard 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 Lanard at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American94.7% · 267
- Two or more races2.5% · 7
- White1.1% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 2
Popularity
Lanard: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lanard from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 94 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1980s peak, Lanard remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lanard 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 Lanard 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 Lanard
The given name Lanard is of obscure origins, with no clear consensus among etymologists regarding its linguistic roots or cultural beginnings. Some scholars have tentatively linked it to ancient Germanic or Frankish dialects, where "lan" may have referred to a wooded area or clearing, and "ard" could signify a hardy or robust individual. However, these connections remain speculative at best.
Historical records of the name Lanard are scant, with no definitive mentions in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or prominent historical documents. The earliest known bearer of the name appears to be Lanard von Ehrenberg, a minor Bavarian nobleman who lived in the late 13th century. His existence is briefly noted in a few regional chronicles from that era, but little else is known about his life or deeds.
In the 16th century, a French explorer and cartographer named Lanard Dumont is recorded as having accompanied Jacques Cartier on his third voyage to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in 1541. Dumont's maps and journals from this expedition provided valuable insights into the geography and indigenous populations of the region.
A century later, Lanard Trelawny (1643-1712) was an English courtier and prominent member of the Trelawny family of Cornwall. He served as a Member of Parliament and was known for his lavish lifestyle and patronage of the arts.
During the American Revolutionary War, Lanard Quincey (1752-1831) was a British loyalist and militiaman who fought alongside the Crown forces. After the war, he settled in Nova Scotia, where he became a respected community leader and magistrate.
In more recent times, Lanard Norwood (1892-1976) was an American blues singer and guitarist from Mississippi. He recorded several influential songs in the 1920s and 1930s, helping to shape the development of the Delta blues genre.
While the name Lanard may have faded from widespread use, its unique and enigmatic origins continue to fascinate scholars and name enthusiasts alike, serving as a reminder of the rich tapestry of cultural and linguistic influences that have shaped our naming traditions over the centuries.
People
Lanard + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lanard 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
Lanard: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lanard?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 329 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lanard 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 1,041,806 US residents.
Is Lanard a common name?
We classify Lanard as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 344 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lanard most popular?
The single biggest year for Lanard was 1979, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lanard is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lanard in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 282 people with the name Lanard, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,717 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 Lanard 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 Lanard?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lanard appears almost entirely male. Of the 286 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Lanard?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lanard is Black at 94.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (2.5%) and White (1.1%). 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 Lanard most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lanard in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.7% (267 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 Lanard in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lanard a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lanard 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 Lanard still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lanard 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 Lanard 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 Lanard?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.