Lehman
A masculine name of Germanic roots meaning "from the meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 372 living Americans carry the first name Lehman. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Lehman today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lehman births was 1922 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lehman. 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 Lehman is about 65 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Lehmans were born before 1971.
People living today
372
~ 1 in 921,383 Americans
Peak year
1922
28 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
2003 SSA rank
#9,246
Tracked since 1892
Census
Lehman in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 459 people with the first name Lehman, which placed it at #21,899 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
#21,899
National first-name rank
People counted
459
459 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lehman
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lehman is White at 64.1%. The next largest groups are Black (24.4%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Lehman 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 Lehman at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.1% · 294
- Black or African American24.4% · 112
- Two or more races4.4% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 11
Popularity
Lehman: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lehman from the 1890s through to the 2000s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 230 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
Lehman 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 Lehman during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lehmans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana recorded the most babies named Lehman, while Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 8 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lehman
The name Lehman is of German origin and is derived from the Old High German word "leh," which means "soiled, muddy, or clay-like." This etymology suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near or worked with clay or soil.
In the Middle Ages, the name Lehman was primarily found in various regions of Germany, particularly in areas with a strong pottery or ceramic industry. It was often used as a surname for individuals involved in these trades or living in areas with clay-rich soil.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lehman dates back to the 13th century, when a man named Konrad Lehman was mentioned in a historical document from the city of Cologne, Germany, in 1256.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Lehman. One of the most famous was Gottfried Wilhelm Lehmann (1799-1882), a German botanist and explorer who made significant contributions to the study of plants in South Africa and Australia.
Another prominent figure was Max Lehmann (1845-1929), a German philosopher and psychologist known for his work on the philosophy of mathematics and his contributions to the field of experimental psychology.
In the realm of literature, Johann Gottlob Lehmann (1719-1767) was a German writer and poet who gained recognition for his satires and fables, some of which were critical of the social and political climate of his time.
The name Lehman also has a place in religious history, with Johann Gottfried Lehmann (1719-1767) being a notable Lutheran theologian and pastor who served in the city of Dresden during the 18th century.
Lastly, one cannot overlook the legacy of the Lehman family in the financial world, particularly the Lehman Brothers investment bank, founded by Henry Lehman (1822-1855) in Alabama, United States. The firm played a significant role in the global financial markets until its collapse in 2008.
People
Lehman + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lehman 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
Lehman: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lehman?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 372 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lehman 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 921,383 US residents.
Is Lehman a common name?
We classify Lehman as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 974 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lehman most popular?
The single biggest year for Lehman was 1922, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lehman is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lehman in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 459 people with the name Lehman, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,899 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 Lehman 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 Lehman?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lehman leans strongly male. 441 people counted with this name were male (97.8%), compared with 10 female bearers (2.2%). 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 Lehman?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lehman is White at 64.1%. The next largest groups are Black (24.4%) and Two or More Races (4.4%). 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 Lehman most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lehman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.1% (294 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 Lehman in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lehman a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lehman 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 Lehman still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lehman 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 Lehman 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 Lehman?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Lehman at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.