Launi
A feminine name of unknown origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 65 living Americans carry the first name Launi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Launi today is around 57 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Launi births was 1977 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Launi. 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 Launi. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
65
~ 1 in 5,273,144 Americans
Peak year
1977
9 babies that year
Average age
57
years old
1981 SSA rank
#11,308
Tracked since 1948
Census
Launi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 199 people with the first name Launi, which placed it at #38,518 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
#38,518
National first-name rank
People counted
199
199 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Launi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Launi is White at 76.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.5%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Launi 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 Launi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.9% · 153
- Hispanic or Latino8.5% · 17
- Black or African American5.0% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.5% · 7
- Two or more races3.5% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.5% · 5
Popularity
Launi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Launi from the 1940s through to the 1980s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 34 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Launi 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 Launi 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 Launi
The name Launi has its origins in the ancient Scandinavian languages, particularly Old Norse. It is believed to have derived from the Old Norse word "laun," which means "secrecy" or "concealment." The name likely emerged during the Viking Age, which spanned from the late 8th century to the mid-11th century.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Launi can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of historical narratives written in the 13th and 14th centuries. In these sagas, Launi was mentioned as the name of a Viking warrior who was known for his cunning and ability to move stealthily.
During the Middle Ages, the name Launi gained popularity among the Norse settlers in the British Isles, particularly in regions with strong Viking influence, such as the Shetland Islands and the Orkney Islands. It was also used in parts of present-day Scandinavia, including Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
One notable historical figure with the name Launi was Launi Sigurdsson (c. 1020-1090), a powerful Norse chieftain who ruled over parts of northern Scotland and the Orkney Islands. He played a significant role in the power struggles between the Norse earls and the Scottish kings during the 11th century.
Another individual of historical significance was Launi Thorvaldsson (c. 1150-1220), a renowned Icelandic skald (poet) and lawspeaker. He was renowned for his poetic skills and his contributions to the preservation of the Old Norse literary tradition.
In the 13th century, Launi Eiriksson (c. 1230-1290) was a prominent Icelandic chieftain and landowner. He is remembered for his involvement in the Sturlung Age, a period of civil unrest and conflict in Iceland.
During the 14th century, Launi Arnorsson (c. 1320-1380) was a respected Icelandic lawman and chieftain. He played a crucial role in the negotiations that led to the union of Iceland with the Kingdom of Norway in 1262.
In the 15th century, Launi Bjornsson (c. 1430-1490) was a notable Icelandic scholar and scribe. He is credited with preserving and copying several important Old Norse manuscripts, contributing to the preservation of the rich literary heritage of the region.
People
Launi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Launi 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
Launi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Launi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 65 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Launi 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 5,273,144 US residents.
Is Launi a common name?
We classify Launi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 77 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Launi most popular?
The single biggest year for Launi was 1977, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Launi 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 Launi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 199 people with the name Launi, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,518 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 Launi 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 Launi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Launi leans strongly female. 196 people counted with this name were female (96.1%), compared with 8 male bearers (3.9%). 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 Launi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Launi is White at 76.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.5%) and Black (5.0%). 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 Launi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Launi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.9% (153 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 Launi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Launi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Launi 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 Launi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Launi 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 Launi 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 Launi?
Want to know how many people have the name Launi? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.