Larken
A variant of Laurence, derived from the Latin laurel tree.
Name Census estimates that about 112 living Americans carry the first name Larken. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 79.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Larken today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Larken births was 2016 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Larken. 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
112
~ 1 in 3,060,307 Americans
Peak year
2016
18 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2022 SSA rank
#11,700
Tracked since 1989
Census
Larken in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 205 people with the first name Larken, which placed it at #37,817 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
#37,817
National first-name rank
People counted
205
205 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Larken
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Larken is White at 83.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.3%) and Black (3.9%). 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 Larken 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 Larken at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.4% · 171
- Two or more races8.3% · 17
- Black or African American3.9% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Larken
Larken is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 113 total registrations, 23 (20.4%) were male and 90 (79.6%) were female.
Larken as a male name
- Ranked #11,700 in 2022
- 6 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2017 (7 births)
Larken as a female name
- Ranked #16,560 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (13 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Larken on both sides of the split. Of the 197 people counted with this name, 64 were male (32.5%) and 133 were female (67.5%).
Popularity
Larken: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Larken from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 51 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Larken remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Larken 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 Larken 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 Larken
The name Larken is believed to have originated in England during the medieval period. It is derived from the Old English word "laerc," which means "lark," a small songbird known for its melodious warbling. This name was likely given to children whose parents admired the bird's cheerful song or perhaps wished for their child to possess a joyful and uplifting spirit.
In the early days of its usage, Larken was predominantly a masculine name. One of the earliest recorded instances of this name can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of land ownership in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The record mentions a landowner named Larken de Beaumont.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Larken remained relatively uncommon, but it did appear in various historical documents and records. One notable figure was Larken Trumbull, an English soldier and explorer who accompanied Sir Walter Raleigh on his expedition to the Americas in the late 16th century.
As time progressed, the name Larken began to be used for both boys and girls, although it remained more prevalent as a masculine name. In the 17th century, a notable Larken was Larken Sudbury, a renowned English architect who was commissioned to design several churches and public buildings in London.
In the 19th century, the name gained some popularity among literary circles. Larken Metcalf was an American poet and essayist whose works explored themes of nature and spirituality. He was born in 1829 and lived until 1892.
Another notable figure was Larken Rose, an American tax resistance theorist and author. Born in 1967, Rose is known for his controversial views on the legitimacy of the federal income tax system and his advocacy for a voluntary society based on individual freedom.
While not as common as some other names, Larken has maintained a modest presence throughout history, often associated with individuals who possessed a love for nature, creativity, and a free-spirited outlook on life.
People
Larken + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Larken 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
Larken: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Larken?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 112 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Larken 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 3,060,307 US residents.
Is Larken a common name?
We classify Larken as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 113 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Larken most popular?
The single biggest year for Larken was 2016, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Larken is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Larken in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 205 people with the name Larken, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,817 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 Larken 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 Larken?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Larken on both sides of the split. Of the 197 people counted with this name, 64 were male (32.5%) and 133 were female (67.5%). 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 Larken?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Larken is White at 83.4%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.3%) and Black (3.9%). 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 Larken most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Larken in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.4% (171 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 Larken in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Larken a female name?
Yes, 79.6% of people registered as Larken 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 Larken still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Larken 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 Larken 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 Larken?
Want to know how many Americans are named Larken? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.