Laraina
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly meaning "song of the lark".
Name Census estimates that about 83 living Americans carry the first name Laraina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Laraina today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Laraina births was 2012 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Laraina. 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 Laraina. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
83
~ 1 in 4,129,570 Americans
Peak year
2012
9 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2023 SSA rank
#16,525
Tracked since 2003
Census
Laraina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 153 people with the first name Laraina, which placed it at #44,840 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
#44,840
National first-name rank
People counted
153
153 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
38.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Laraina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Laraina is White at 38.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.5%) and Black (22.2%). 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 Laraina 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 Laraina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White38.6% · 59
- Hispanic or Latino27.5% · 42
- Black or African American22.2% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.9% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 5
- Two or more races2.6% · 4
Popularity
Laraina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Laraina from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 59 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Laraina 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 Laraina 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 Laraina
The name Laraina is a feminine variant of the Greek name Laura, which originated from the Latin word "laurus" meaning "laurel" or "laurel tree." The laurel tree was a symbol of victory and honor in ancient Roman culture, often used to crown victors and heroes.
The name Laura gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in Italy and other parts of Europe influenced by Latin and Italian culture. Laraina emerged as a variant of Laura, possibly as a way to make the name more unique or to reflect regional linguistic influences.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Laraina can be traced back to the 14th century, when it appeared in historical records from the Italian city of Florence. However, its usage remained relatively rare until more recent times.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Laraina:
1. Laraina Wyndham (1908-1987), an American actress and model who appeared in several films during the 1930s and 1940s.
2. Laraina Gilden (1925-2006), an American painter and sculptor known for her abstract expressionist works.
3. Laraina Raine (born 1955), an American actress and singer who has appeared in various television shows and stage productions.
4. Laraina Kantor (born 1967), an American writer and poet, known for her collections of poetry and novels exploring themes of identity and relationships.
5. Laraina Graham (born 1976), a Canadian former professional wrestler, known by her ring name Leilani Kai.
While the name Laraina has its roots in ancient Greek and Latin, it has evolved over time and taken on its own unique identity. Its rarity and melodic sound have contributed to its appeal as a distinctive and beautiful name choice.
People
Laraina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Laraina 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
Laraina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Laraina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 83 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Laraina 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 Laraina a common name?
We classify Laraina 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, 84 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Laraina most popular?
The single biggest year for Laraina was 2012, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Laraina is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Laraina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 153 people with the name Laraina, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,840 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 Laraina 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 Laraina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Laraina appears almost entirely female. Of the 151 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Laraina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Laraina is White at 38.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.5%) and Black (22.2%). 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 Laraina most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Laraina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 38.6% (59 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 Laraina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Laraina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Laraina 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 Laraina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Laraina 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 Laraina 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 are named Laraina?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.