Legna
A name meaning "angel" or "messenger" in English, derived from Spanish.
Name Census estimates that about 137 living Americans carry the first name Legna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Legna today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Legna births was 2010 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Legna. 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
137
~ 1 in 2,501,856 Americans
Peak year
2010
17 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,925
Tracked since 2004
Census
Legna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 311 people with the first name Legna, which placed it at #28,739 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
#28,739
National first-name rank
People counted
311
311 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
83.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Legna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Legna is Hispanic at 83.0%. The next largest groups are White (9.6%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Legna 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 Legna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino83.0% · 258
- White9.6% · 30
- Two or more races3.5% · 11
- Black or African American3.2% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 2
Popularity
Legna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Legna from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 64 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Legna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Legna 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 Legna 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 Legna
Legna is a name with roots that can be traced back to the ancient Etruscan civilization, which flourished in what is now modern-day Italy between the 8th and 3rd centuries BCE. The name is believed to have originated from the Etruscan word "legnare," which translates to "to gather wood."
In its earliest form, the name was likely used to denote a person's occupation or role within the Etruscan society, specifically those involved in the gathering and collection of wood for various purposes, such as fuel, construction, or crafting.
The name gained prominence during the Roman era, as the Etruscan culture and language were assimilated into the expanding Roman Empire. It is documented in several ancient Roman texts and inscriptions, indicating its usage among the upper echelons of Roman society.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Legna was a Roman senator named Legna Caecillius, who lived during the 1st century BCE. He was known for his oratorical skills and political influence in the Roman Senate.
Another notable figure was Legna Tiberius, a Roman general who served under the Emperor Claudius in the 1st century CE. He played a crucial role in the Roman conquest of Britain and is mentioned in several historical accounts of the time.
During the Middle Ages, the name Legna was relatively uncommon, but it resurfaced in the Renaissance period. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Legna Alberti, an Italian Renaissance humanist and writer who lived from 1404 to 1472. He is best known for his works on moral philosophy and his contributions to the development of the Italian vernacular language.
In the 17th century, Legna Galilei, the daughter of the renowned astronomer Galileo Galilei, became a notable figure in her own right. Born in 1600, she was a nun and a skilled writer, known for her letters and literary works that provided valuable insights into the life and times of her famous father.
More recently, in the 20th century, Legna Riefenstahl, a German film director and actress, gained notoriety for her propagandistic films produced during the Nazi regime. Despite her controversial legacy, her work had a significant impact on the art of filmmaking and cinematography.
Throughout its long history, the name Legna has maintained a strong connection to its Etruscan roots, reflecting the enduring influence of this ancient civilization on the cultural and linguistic landscape of the Mediterranean region.
People
Legna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Legna 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
Legna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Legna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 137 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Legna 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 2,501,856 US residents.
Is Legna a common name?
We classify Legna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 138 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Legna most popular?
The single biggest year for Legna was 2010, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Legna is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Legna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 311 people with the name Legna, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,739 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 Legna 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 Legna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Legna leans strongly female. 303 people counted with this name were female (98.1%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.9%). 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 Legna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Legna is Hispanic at 83.0%. The next largest groups are White (9.6%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Legna most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Legna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.0% (258 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 Legna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Legna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Legna 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 Legna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Legna 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 Legna 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 are called Legna?
You can see how many Americans are named Legna on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.