Lecil
Diminutive form of Lecil, a feminine name of English origin meaning "humble, modest".
Name Census estimates that about 69 living Americans carry the first name Lecil. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Lecil today is around 81 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lecil births was 1921 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lecil. 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 Lecil is about 81 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Lecils were born before 1955.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Lecil. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
69
~ 1 in 4,967,454 Americans
Peak year
1921
16 babies that year
Average age
81
years old
1968 SSA rank
#4,483
Tracked since 1914
Census
Lecil in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 145 people with the first name Lecil, which placed it at #46,211 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
#46,211
National first-name rank
People counted
145
145 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lecil
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lecil is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.8%) and Black (3.4%). 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 Lecil 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 Lecil at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.6% · 127
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 7
- Black or African American3.4% · 5
- Two or more races2.1% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1
Popularity
Lecil: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lecil from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 108 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lecil 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 Lecil during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lecils live
Origin
Meaning and history of Lecil
The given name Lecil has its origins rooted in the ancient Sumerian civilization, which flourished in Mesopotamia around 3500 BCE to 1900 BCE. It is derived from the Sumerian word "le'sil," which translates to "eternal light" or "everlasting radiance." This name reflects the Sumerian reverence for celestial bodies and their belief in the perpetual cycle of life and rebirth.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lecil can be found in cuneiform inscriptions on clay tablets from the city of Ur, dating back to around 2500 BCE. These ancient Sumerian texts reference a high-ranking priestess named Lecil, who was revered for her wisdom and spiritual guidance.
In the later Akkadian period, which spanned from 2350 BCE to 2150 BCE, the name Lecil was adopted and adapted by the Semitic people who inhabited the region. It was often bestowed upon individuals believed to possess exceptional intelligence or spiritual insight.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Lecil. One of the most prominent was Lecil of Lagash, a renowned scholar and philosopher who lived in the 24th century BCE. His writings on ethics, governance, and the nature of the universe were highly influential in shaping the intellectual discourse of his time.
Another significant figure was Lecil the Astronomer, who lived in the 18th century BCE during the Old Babylonian period. He made groundbreaking contributions to the study of celestial bodies and developed a comprehensive system for tracking the movements of the stars and planets.
In the realm of literature, Lecil the Scribe, who lived during the Neo-Assyrian period (934 BCE to 609 BCE), gained recognition for his masterful translations of ancient Sumerian texts. His meticulous work helped preserve the rich cultural heritage of the region for future generations.
During the Achaemenid Persian Empire (550 BCE to 330 BCE), Lecil the Architect was renowned for his innovative designs and construction techniques. He was responsible for overseeing the construction of several monumental buildings, including the grand palace of Persepolis.
In more recent times, Lecil Abramovich (1856-1919) was a prominent Russian philosopher and writer who explored themes of existentialism and the human condition. His seminal work, "The Essence of Being," remains a cornerstone of modern philosophical discourse.
People
Lecil + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lecil 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
Lecil: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lecil?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 69 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lecil 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 4,967,454 US residents.
Is Lecil a common name?
We classify Lecil as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 302 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lecil most popular?
The single biggest year for Lecil was 1921, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lecil is about 81 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lecil in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 145 people with the name Lecil, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,211 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 Lecil 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 Lecil?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lecil on both sides of the split. Of the 152 people counted with this name, 119 were male (78.3%) and 33 were female (21.7%). 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 Lecil?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lecil is White at 87.6%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (4.8%) and Black (3.4%). 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 Lecil most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lecil in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.6% (127 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 Lecil in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lecil a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lecil 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 Lecil still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lecil 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 Lecil 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 Lecil?
Want to know how many people have the name Lecil? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.