Lary
A pet name for Lawrence, derived from the Latin name Laurentius meaning "from Laurentum".
Name Census estimates that about 1,018 living Americans carry the first name Lary. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Lary today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lary births was 1946 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lary. 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
- • The typical person named Lary is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Larys were born before 1968.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 336,694 Americans
Peak year
1946
63 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
2009 SSA rank
#13,648
Tracked since 1918
Census
Lary in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,570 people with the first name Lary, which placed it at #9,029 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
#9,029
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,570 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lary
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lary is White at 75.7%. The next largest groups are Black (11.5%) and Hispanic (7.3%). 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 Lary 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 Lary at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.7% · 1,188
- Black or African American11.5% · 180
- Hispanic or Latino7.3% · 114
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 44
- Two or more races1.5% · 23
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 21
Popularity
Lary: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lary from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 461 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lary 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 Lary during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Larys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Michigan, California, Texas recorded the most babies named Lary, while Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lary
The name Lary has its origins in the Latin language and can be traced back to ancient Rome. It is derived from the Latin word "laurus," which means "laurel." The laurel was a plant highly revered in Roman culture, often used to make crowns for victors and leaders.
In ancient times, the name Lary was associated with strength, victory, and honor. It was a popular name among Roman families, particularly those with military or political ties. The earliest recorded use of the name dates back to the 1st century AD, where it appears in various historical texts and records.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Lary was Lary Claudius, a Roman senator who lived during the reign of Emperor Nero in the 1st century AD. He was known for his oratory skills and his advocacy for civil rights within the Roman Empire.
During the Middle Ages, the name Lary gained popularity among Christians, as it was associated with the laurel's symbolism of victory and triumph over adversity. In the 12th century, there was a notable figure named Lary of Gloucester, an English monk and chronicler who documented the history of his monastery.
In the Renaissance period, the name Lary experienced a resurgence in popularity, particularly in Italy. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Lary Ghiberti, a renowned 15th-century Italian sculptor and artist best known for his work on the Gates of Paradise for the Baptistery of Florence.
Another notable figure was Lary Valla, an Italian Renaissance humanist and philosopher who lived in the 15th century. He was renowned for his critical analysis of ancient texts and his contributions to the study of Latin grammar and rhetoric.
In the 19th century, Lary Whitehead, an English poet and writer, gained recognition for his literary works, including the novel "The Village on the Cliff" and several collections of poetry.
Throughout history, the name Lary has been associated with individuals who have achieved success and earned respect in various fields, from politics and religion to art and literature. While its popularity may have fluctuated over time, the name's roots in ancient Roman culture and its symbolic connections to victory and honor have endured.
People
Lary + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lary 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
Lary: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lary?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,018 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lary 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 336,694 US residents.
Is Lary a common name?
We classify Lary as "Rare". It ranks above 90.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,577 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lary most popular?
The single biggest year for Lary was 1946, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lary is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lary in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,570 people with the name Lary, or 0.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,029 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 Lary 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 Lary?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lary leans strongly male. 1,511 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 63 female bearers (4.0%). 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 Lary?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lary is White at 75.7%. The next largest groups are Black (11.5%) and Hispanic (7.3%). 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 Lary most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lary in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.7% (1,188 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 Lary in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lary a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lary in the SSA data are male. 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 Lary still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lary 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 Lary 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 share the name Lary?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.