Lavan
Hebrew name meaning "white" or "brick".
Name Census estimates that about 211 living Americans carry the first name Lavan. It is a predominantly male name (98.3% of registrations). The average person named Lavan today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lavan births was 1977 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lavan. 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
211
~ 1 in 1,624,428 Americans
Peak year
1977
10 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
2013 SSA rank
#5,272
Tracked since 1918
Gender
Gender distribution for Lavan
Lavan leans heavily male at 98.3% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Lavan as a male name
- Ranked #13,260 in 2013
- 5 male births in 2013
- Peak: 1977 (10 births)
Lavan as a female name
- Ranked #5,272 in 1926
- 5 female births in 1926
- Peak: 1926 (5 births)
Popularity
Lavan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lavan from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 49 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
Lavan 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 Lavan 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 Lavan
The name Lavan has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew root word "lavan," which means "white" or "pale." This root word is also used to describe the color of certain materials, such as milk or wool.
In the Hebrew Bible, Lavan is mentioned as the name of the brother of Rebekah, who later became the wife of Isaac. Lavan is portrayed as a deceitful and manipulative character, known for his trickery in dealing with his son-in-law, Jacob. This biblical reference is one of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lavan.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Lavan was Lavan bar Sisi, a Jewish Talmudic scholar who lived in the 3rd century CE. He is mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud as a prominent figure in the study of Jewish law and tradition.
In the Middle Ages, the name Lavan was occasionally used among Jewish communities in Europe and the Middle East. One notable example is Lavan ben Bezalel, a 14th-century Jewish scholar and philosopher from Spain, who wrote extensively on Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah.
Another historical figure with the name Lavan was Lavan Nussbaum (1829-1892), a German-Jewish banker and philanthropist. He was known for his support of various charitable causes and his contributions to the Jewish community in Frankfurt.
In more recent history, Lavan Gasparyan (1924-1998) was an Armenian writer and poet, renowned for his works that explored themes of Armenian culture and identity. His poetry collections, such as "The Sixth Day of Creation," gained widespread recognition and critical acclaim.
It is worth noting that while the name Lavan has its roots in Hebrew and Jewish culture, it has also been adopted and used in other contexts and communities over time. However, the historical references and examples provided here primarily highlight its origins and usage within the Jewish tradition.
People
Lavan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lavan 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
Lavan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lavan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 211 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lavan 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 1,624,428 US residents.
Is Lavan a common name?
We classify Lavan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 290 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lavan most popular?
The single biggest year for Lavan was 1977, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lavan is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lavan a male name?
Yes, 98.3% of people registered as Lavan 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.
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.