Lance
A masculine name of Celtic origin meaning "broad meadow" or "land".
Name Census estimates that about 94,601 living Americans carry the first name Lance. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Lance today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lance births was 1970 (4,173 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lance. 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
- • Although Lance is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 345 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
95K
~ 1 in 3,623 Americans
Peak year
1970
4,173 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2024 SSA rank
#841
Tracked since 1899
Gender
Gender distribution for Lance
Out of the 105,908 babies given the name Lance since 1880, 99.7% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Lance as a male name
- Ranked #841 in 2024
- 290 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1970 (4,160 births)
Lance as a female name
- Ranked #17,615 in 2004
- 5 female births in 2004
- Peak: 1979 (22 births)
Popularity
Lance: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lance from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 21,919 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lance 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 Lance during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lances live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Lance, while Delaware, Rhode Island, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 2,012 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lance
The name Lance has its origins in the Late Latin word "lancea", meaning "spear" or "lance". This word was derived from the Celtic "landskia", also referring to a type of spear or lance used as a weapon in ancient times.
The name first emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 11th or 12th century, and was commonly used in countries such as France, England, and Italy. It gained popularity as a given name due to its association with the iconic weapon, which was widely used by knights and soldiers during that period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lance can be found in the 12th-century epic poem "Chanson de Roland", which tells the story of the legendary knight Roland and his comrades during the reign of Charlemagne. In this work, the name is mentioned in reference to a character named Lance, suggesting its use as a personal name at that time.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Lance. One of the most famous was Lance Lancelot, a legendary knight of the Round Table in Arthurian mythology, renowned for his bravery and skill in combat. Another prominent figure was Lance Armstrong, the American cyclist who won the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005, though his victories were later stripped due to doping allegations.
Other notable individuals with the name Lance include Lance Corporal, a rank in the military, particularly in the British Army; Lance Henriksen, an American actor known for his roles in films such as "Aliens" and "The Terminator" (born 1940); and Lance Reddick, an American actor best known for his role as Cedric Daniels in the HBO series "The Wire" (born 1962).
Additionally, the name Lance has been mentioned in various literary works, including Shakespeare's play "Hamlet", where the character Hamlet refers to a "lancer" or "lanced" wound. This further reinforces the name's connection to the ancient weapon and its historical significance.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Lance
People
Lance + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lance 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
Lance: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lance?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 94,601 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lance 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 3,623 US residents.
Is Lance a common name?
We classify Lance as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 105,908 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lance most popular?
The single biggest year for Lance was 1970, when 4,173 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lance is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lance a male name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Lance 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.
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.