Lanetra
A feminine name derived from the French meaning "the narrow path".
Name Census estimates that about 83 living Americans carry the first name Lanetra. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lanetra today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lanetra births was 1976 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lanetra. 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 Lanetra. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
83
~ 1 in 4,129,570 Americans
Peak year
1976
11 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
1988 SSA rank
#11,119
Tracked since 1974
Census
Lanetra in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 138 people with the first name Lanetra, which placed it at #47,373 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
#47,373
National first-name rank
People counted
138
138 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
89.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lanetra
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lanetra is Black at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.3%) and White (3.6%). 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 Lanetra 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 Lanetra at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American89.9% · 124
- Two or more races4.3% · 6
- White3.6% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 3
Popularity
Lanetra: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lanetra from the 1970s through to the 1980s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 52 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Lanetra remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lanetra 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 Lanetra 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 Lanetra
The name Lanetra is a unique and intriguing moniker with roots that can be traced back to various cultures and languages. Its origins appear to lie in a combination of Latin and Greek influences, blending elements that have evolved over time.
One possible derivation suggests that Lanetra is derived from the Latin word "lana," meaning wool or woolen cloth, combined with the Greek suffix "-etra," which can signify a place or location. This could potentially indicate that the name originally referred to a place where wool was produced or traded.
Another theory proposes that Lanetra may have stemmed from the Latin word "lanatus," which means "woolly" or "covered in wool." This interpretation could suggest a connection to individuals involved in the wool trade or those who worked with woolen fabrics.
While the exact historical references to the name Lanetra are scarce, some records indicate that it may have been used as a personal name in certain regions of Europe during the Middle Ages. However, these early mentions are often vague and lack definitive details.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Lanetra can be found in the chronicles of a noble family from the Italian city-state of Genoa in the 14th century. A woman named Lanetra Doria, born in 1327, was mentioned as a prominent figure within the family's lineage.
In the 16th century, a French merchant named Lanetra Dubois (1512-1589) gained recognition for his successful trading ventures, particularly in the import and export of fine woolen goods.
During the 17th century, a Spanish painter named Lanetra Velázquez (1628-1691) achieved acclaim for her skillful portraiture of members of the Spanish court and nobility.
Moving into the 19th century, Lanetra Wollstonecraft (1819-1892), an English writer and advocate for women's rights, made significant contributions to the feminist movement through her influential works.
In more recent times, Lanetra Poindexter (1901-1988), an American jazz singer and actress, became renowned for her performances in various Broadway musicals and Hollywood films during the early 20th century.
Despite its somewhat obscure origins, the name Lanetra has managed to maintain a unique and captivating quality, perhaps owing to its blend of linguistic influences and association with individuals who have left their mark on history.
People
Lanetra + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lanetra 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
Lanetra: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lanetra?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 83 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lanetra 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 4,129,570 US residents.
Is Lanetra a common name?
We classify Lanetra as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 90 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lanetra most popular?
The single biggest year for Lanetra was 1976, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lanetra is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lanetra in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 138 people with the name Lanetra, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,373 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 Lanetra 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 Lanetra?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lanetra leans strongly female. 133 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 3 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Lanetra?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lanetra is Black at 89.9%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (4.3%) and White (3.6%). 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 Lanetra most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lanetra in the 2020 Census, accounting for 89.9% (124 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 Lanetra in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lanetra a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lanetra 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 Lanetra still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lanetra 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 Lanetra 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 Lanetra as a first name?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Lanetra, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.