Lechelle
Feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from French.
Name Census estimates that about 155 living Americans carry the first name Lechelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lechelle today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lechelle births was 1987 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lechelle. 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
155
~ 1 in 2,211,318 Americans
Peak year
1987
12 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2009 SSA rank
#14,574
Tracked since 1967
Census
Lechelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 212 people with the first name Lechelle, which placed it at #37,053 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
#37,053
National first-name rank
People counted
212
212 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
67.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lechelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lechelle is Black at 67.5%. The next largest groups are White (18.4%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Lechelle 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 Lechelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American67.5% · 143
- White18.4% · 39
- Two or more races6.1% · 13
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.3% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1
Popularity
Lechelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lechelle from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 57 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lechelle 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 Lechelle 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 Lechelle
The name Lechelle has its roots in Old French, originating in the late 12th century. It is derived from the word "l'eschelle," which means "the ladder" or "the staircase." This name was likely given to individuals who lived near or worked with ladders or staircases, perhaps as carpenters or masons.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lechelle can be found in the 13th-century French epic poem "La Chanson de Roland." In this literary work, a minor character named Lechelle is mentioned as a soldier in the army of Charlemagne. This suggests that the name was already in use during the medieval period.
In the 14th century, a renowned French philosopher and theologian named Jean Lechelle lived and worked in Paris. He was known for his scholarly writings on ethics and metaphysics, and his contributions to the development of scholastic philosophy.
During the Renaissance period, a French painter named François Lechelle gained recognition for his portraits and religious works. He was born in 1592 and spent most of his career in the city of Lyon, where he worked for noble patrons and the local church.
In the 18th century, a French composer named Nicolas Lechelle made a name for himself in the field of opera. He composed several operas and ballets that were performed in Paris and other French cities during the late Baroque period.
Another notable figure with the name Lechelle was Marie Lechelle, a French revolutionary who lived during the late 18th century. She was an active participant in the French Revolution and worked tirelessly to promote the rights of women and marginalized groups.
While the name Lechelle has French origins, it has also been adopted and used in other cultures and languages over the centuries. However, its historical significance and roots remain closely tied to its French heritage and the various individuals who have carried this name throughout history.
People
Lechelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lechelle 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
Lechelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lechelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 155 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lechelle 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 2,211,318 US residents.
Is Lechelle a common name?
We classify Lechelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 166 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lechelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Lechelle was 1987, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lechelle is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lechelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 212 people with the name Lechelle, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,053 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 Lechelle 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 Lechelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lechelle appears almost entirely female. Of the 216 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Lechelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lechelle is Black at 67.5%. The next largest groups are White (18.4%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Lechelle most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lechelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.5% (143 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 Lechelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lechelle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lechelle 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 Lechelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lechelle 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 Lechelle 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 Americans are named Lechelle?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.