Lari
A feminine Japanese name meaning "poetry" or "elegance".
Name Census estimates that about 715 living Americans carry the first name Lari. It is a predominantly female name (95.7% of registrations). The average person named Lari today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lari births was 1959 (48 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lari. 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.
People living today
715
~ 1 in 479,377 Americans
Peak year
1959
48 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
1959 SSA rank
#3,446
Tracked since 1942
Census
Lari in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 884 people with the first name Lari, which placed it at #13,601 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
#13,601
National first-name rank
People counted
884
884 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lari
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lari is White at 77.7%. The next largest groups are Black (8.3%) and Hispanic (7.4%). 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 Lari 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 Lari at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.7% · 687
- Black or African American8.3% · 73
- Hispanic or Latino7.4% · 65
- Two or more races3.7% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 12
Gender
Gender distribution for Lari
Lari leans heavily female at 95.7% of total registrations, but 38 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Lari as a male name
- Ranked #3,446 in 1959
- 7 male births in 1959
- Peak: 1952 (7 births)
Lari as a female name
- Ranked #18,799 in 2006
- 5 female births in 2006
- Peak: 1959 (41 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lari leans strongly female. 775 people counted with this name were female (87.2%), compared with 114 male bearers (12.8%).
Popularity
Lari: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lari from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 268 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lari 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 Lari during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Laris live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Lari, while Ohio, New York, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lari
The name Lari has its origins in the Sanskrit language, dating back to ancient India. It is derived from the Sanskrit word 'lar', which means 'to move' or 'to flow'. This suggests that the name was initially associated with fluidity or movement.
In Hindu mythology, Lari is the name of a minor goddess associated with the protection of fields and crops. She is often depicted as a young woman carrying a broom, symbolizing her role as a guardian against pests and natural calamities that could harm agricultural lands.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lari can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. In this text, Lari is mentioned as the name of a warrior who fought alongside the Pandava princes during the great Kurukshetra war.
Through the centuries, the name Lari has been borne by several notable individuals. In the 7th century CE, Lari Kashu was a renowned scholar and poet from Persia, renowned for his contributions to the development of the Persian language and literature.
During the medieval period, Lari Torenović was a Serbian nobleman and military commander who played a pivotal role in the battle against the Ottoman Empire's invasion of the Balkans in the late 14th century.
In more recent times, Lari Pittman, born in 1952, is an American artist known for his large-scale paintings that combine elements of figurative and abstract styles. His works often explore themes of gender, sexuality, and cultural identity.
Another notable bearer of the name is Lari Adeshina, a Nigerian-American author, and activist born in 1973. Her writings focus on issues of social justice, feminism, and the experiences of the African diaspora.
Lastly, Lari Leisiö, born in 1960, is a Finnish actor and director who has appeared in numerous films and television shows, both in his home country and internationally. He is particularly known for his roles in historical dramas and period pieces.
People
Lari + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lari 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
Lari: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lari?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 715 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lari 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 479,377 US residents.
Is Lari a common name?
We classify Lari as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 879 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lari most popular?
The single biggest year for Lari was 1959, when 48 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lari is about 57 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lari in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 884 people with the name Lari, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,601 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 Lari 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 Lari?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lari leans strongly female. 775 people counted with this name were female (87.2%), compared with 114 male bearers (12.8%). 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 Lari?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lari is White at 77.7%. The next largest groups are Black (8.3%) and Hispanic (7.4%). 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 Lari most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lari in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.7% (687 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 Lari in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lari a female name?
Yes, 95.7% of people registered as Lari 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 Lari still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lari 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 Lari 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 Americans are named Lari?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.