Larah
Feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly related to the Spanish word "lara" meaning "cheerful" or "joy".
Name Census estimates that about 217 living Americans carry the first name Larah. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Larah today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Larah births was 2009 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Larah. 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 Larah with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
217
~ 1 in 1,579,513 Americans
Peak year
2009
12 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,995
Tracked since 1981
Census
Larah in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 278 people with the first name Larah, which placed it at #31,017 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
#31,017
National first-name rank
People counted
278
278 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
63.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Larah
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Larah is White at 63.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.9%) and Black (9.4%). 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 Larah 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 Larah at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White63.7% · 177
- Hispanic or Latino11.9% · 33
- Black or African American9.4% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.6% · 24
- Two or more races5.4% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 3
Popularity
Larah: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Larah from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 86 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Larah 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 Larah 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 Larah
The name Larah is believed to have its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that has been the primary source for many names used across South Asia. In Sanskrit, the word "Lara" means "wave" or "sea." The addition of the letter "h" at the end of the name is thought to be a later adaptation.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name can be found in the ancient Hindu scripture, the Mahabharata. This epic poem, which dates back to around the 8th century BCE, mentions a character named Larah who was a skilled warrior and archer. However, not much is known about the specific details of this figure.
During the medieval period, the name Larah appeared to gain popularity in certain regions of the Indian subcontinent. One notable figure from this era was Larah Devi, a 12th-century queen who ruled over a small kingdom in what is now the state of Rajasthan. She was renowned for her patronage of the arts and her support for poets and scholars.
In the 16th century, there was a famous Sufi mystic and poet named Larah Shah who lived in present-day Pakistan. His writings and teachings had a significant influence on the spiritual and literary traditions of the region.
Moving forward to the 19th century, Larah Sundar was a prominent social reformer and educator from Bengal, British India. She dedicated her life to advocating for women's rights and establishing schools for girls in a time when female education was not widely accepted.
Another notable figure with the name Larah was Larah Ari Khan, a 20th-century politician and diplomat from Afghanistan. She played a crucial role in promoting women's rights and advocating for democracy in her country during a turbulent period of its history.
Throughout its long history, the name Larah has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, including warriors, queens, poets, reformers, and politicians. While its origins can be traced back to Sanskrit roots, the name has transcended geographical and cultural boundaries, leaving an indelible mark on the diverse tapestry of human history.
People
Larah + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Larah 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
Larah: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Larah?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 217 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Larah 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 1,579,513 US residents.
Is Larah a common name?
We classify Larah as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 222 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Larah most popular?
The single biggest year for Larah was 2009, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Larah is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Larah in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 278 people with the name Larah, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,017 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 Larah 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 Larah?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Larah leans strongly female. 277 people counted with this name were female (97.2%), compared with 8 male bearers (2.8%). 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 Larah?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Larah is White at 63.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.9%) and Black (9.4%). 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 Larah most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Larah in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.7% (177 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 Larah in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Larah a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Larah 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 Larah still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Larah 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 Larah 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 Larah?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.