Lavona
A feminine name of unknown origin, potentially a combination of French/Latin elements.
Name Census estimates that about 531 living Americans carry the first name Lavona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lavona today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lavona births was 1934 (52 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lavona. 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 Lavona is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Lavonas were born before 1968.
People living today
531
~ 1 in 645,488 Americans
Peak year
1934
52 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
1995 SSA rank
#9,195
Tracked since 1902
Popularity
Lavona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lavona from the 1900s through to the 1990s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 441 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lavona 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 Lavona during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lavonas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska recorded the most babies named Lavona, while Texas, Minnesota, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lavona
The name Lavona is a feminine given name of uncertain origin, but it is believed to have roots in the Latin language. It is thought to be a combination of two Latin words: "lava" meaning "to wash" or "to cleanse," and "bona" meaning "good" or "virtuous."
One theory suggests that the name Lavona may have been derived from the Latin phrase "lava bona," which could be interpreted as "a good washing" or "cleansing water." This connection to water and purification may have given the name a symbolic meaning associated with purity, renewal, or spiritual cleansing.
Another possibility is that Lavona is a variant of the name Lavinia, which has roots in ancient Roman mythology. Lavinia was the daughter of Latinus, a mythical king of Latium, and she became the wife of Aeneas, the legendary Trojan hero. This connection to Roman mythology and literature could have influenced the development and popularity of the name Lavona.
The earliest recorded use of the name Lavona is difficult to pinpoint, as it was not a common name throughout history. However, there are a few notable individuals who bore this name in the past.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lavona is Lavona Graham (1888-1958), an American writer and educator from Texas. She authored several books and worked as a teacher and principal in the early 20th century.
Another individual with the name Lavona was Lavona Tesh (1922-2007), an American actress and model who appeared in several films and television shows during the mid-20th century.
In the literary world, Lavona Ingram (1892-1980) was an American writer and poet who published works such as "The Hired Girl" and "The Spinster of Bittersweet Farm."
One of the more prominent figures with the name Lavona was Lavona McCutchin (1904-1990), an American politician who served as a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives from 1949 to 1957.
Finally, Lavona Edna Ayers (1902-1984) was an American educator and school administrator who worked in the Los Angeles Unified School District for several decades.
While the name Lavona is not widely popular today, its unique sound and possible connections to Latin roots and ancient mythology have made it a distinctive choice throughout history.
People
Lavona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lavona 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
Lavona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lavona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 531 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lavona 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 645,488 US residents.
Is Lavona a common name?
We classify Lavona as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,791 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lavona most popular?
The single biggest year for Lavona was 1934, when 52 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lavona is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lavona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lavona 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.
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.