Lancaster
A masculine name of English origin referring to a place name.
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Lancaster. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Lancaster today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lancaster births was 1930 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lancaster. 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 Lancaster. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1930
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1930 SSA rank
#4,301
Tracked since 1930
Census
Lancaster in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 96 people with the first name Lancaster, which placed it at #53,564 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
#53,564
National first-name rank
People counted
96
96 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lancaster
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lancaster is White at 50.0%. The next largest groups are Black (33.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.3%). 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 Lancaster 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 Lancaster at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.0% · 48
- Black or African American33.3% · 32
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.3% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino5.2% · 5
- Two or more races3.1% · 3
Popularity
Lancaster: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Lancaster 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 Lancaster during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1930s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Lancaster
The name Lancaster has its origins in the Old English words "lond" and "cæster," which together mean "Roman town." The name likely originated in the ancient city of Lancaster, located in the northwest region of England, which was established as a Roman fort and settlement during the 1st century AD.
Lancaster is derived from the combination of the Old English words "lond" (land or estate) and "cæster" (a Roman fort or walled town), referring to the city's historical roots as a Roman military outpost. This name was likely given to the settlement during the Anglo-Saxon period, after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century.
The earliest recorded use of the name Lancaster dates back to the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation commissioned by William the Conqueror. The Domesday Book mentions Lancaster as a thriving town with several churches and a significant population.
Throughout history, numerous notable individuals have borne the name Lancaster, including:
1. John of Lancaster, Duke of Bedford (1389-1435), a son of King Henry IV of England and a respected military leader during the Hundred Years' War.
2. Thomas Lancaster (c. 1278-1322), an English nobleman and military commander who fought in the Scottish Wars of Independence against Robert the Bruce.
3. Joseph Lancaster (1778-1838), an English Quaker and educational pioneer who developed the monitorial system of education, which enabled the schooling of large numbers of students at a low cost.
4. Burt Lancaster (1913-1994), an American actor renowned for his performances in films such as "Elmer Gantry," "The Birdman of Alcatraz," and "Atlantic City," for which he received an Academy Award nomination.
5. Sarah Josepha Hale (née Lancaster) (1788-1879), an American writer and influential editor who campaigned for the establishment of Thanksgiving as a national holiday in the United States.
While the name Lancaster originated in England, it has since been used globally, particularly in countries with historical ties to the British Empire. The name's association with the Roman legacy and the ancient city of Lancaster has contributed to its enduring popularity and historical significance.
People
Lancaster + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lancaster 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
Lancaster: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lancaster?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lancaster 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 - US residents.
Is Lancaster a common name?
We classify Lancaster as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lancaster most popular?
The single biggest year for Lancaster was 1930, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lancaster is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lancaster in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 96 people with the name Lancaster, or 0.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #53,564 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 Lancaster 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 Lancaster?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lancaster leans strongly male. 82 people counted with this name were male (82.8%), compared with 17 female bearers (17.2%). 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 Lancaster?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lancaster is White at 50.0%. The next largest groups are Black (33.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.3%). 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 Lancaster most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lancaster in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.0% (48 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 Lancaster in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lancaster a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lancaster 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 Lancaster still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lancaster 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 Lancaster 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 the name Lancaster?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Lancaster, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.