Lene
A feminine name of German origin meaning "light" or "tender".
Name Census estimates that about 249 living Americans carry the first name Lene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lene today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lene births was 1967 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lene. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Lene with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
249
~ 1 in 1,376,523 Americans
Peak year
1967
13 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2013 SSA rank
#18,134
Tracked since 1949
Census
Lene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 635 people with the first name Lene, which placed it at #17,398 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
#17,398
National first-name rank
People counted
635
635 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lene is White at 67.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.0%) and Black (9.1%). 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 Lene 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 Lene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.1% · 426
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.0% · 70
- Black or African American9.1% · 58
- Hispanic or Latino7.2% · 46
- Two or more races5.2% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
Popularity
Lene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lene from the 1940s through to the 2010s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 80 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lene 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 Lene 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 Lene
The name Lene has its origins in the Germanic languages, derived from the Old Norse word "lind," meaning "lime tree" or "tender." It is a variant spelling of the more common name Lena, which has been in use since the Middle Ages.
In Scandinavian countries like Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, the name Lene has been popular for centuries. It is believed to have been introduced to these regions by Vikings who traveled and settled throughout Europe during the 8th to 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lene can be found in the Icelandic sagas, which were written in the 13th and 14th centuries. These sagas, which were oral histories passed down through generations, often included characters with names like Lene or Lena, reflecting the name's deep roots in Norse culture.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Lene. One of the earliest was Lene Vestergaard (1497-1560), a Danish noblewoman and landowner who played a significant role in the Reformation in Denmark.
In the 18th century, Lene Christensen (1712-1783) was a Danish stage actress and opera singer who performed in the Royal Danish Theatre in Copenhagen. Her performances were highly acclaimed during her time.
Moving into the 20th century, Lene Nystrøm (1973-present) is a Norwegian singer and songwriter who has won several Norwegian Grammy Awards and represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest in 1988.
Another notable individual is Lene Espersen (1965-present), a Danish politician who served as the leader of the Conservative People's Party and as the Minister of Economic and Business Affairs in Denmark.
Lastly, Lene Lovich (1949-present) is a British singer-songwriter and musician known for her unique style and hit songs like "Lucky Number" and "Say When" in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Lene, a name steeped in the rich cultural heritage of the Norse and Germanic peoples.
People
Lene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lene 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
Lene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 249 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lene 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 1,376,523 US residents.
Is Lene a common name?
We classify Lene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 277 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lene most popular?
The single biggest year for Lene was 1967, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lene is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 635 people with the name Lene, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,398 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 Lene 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 Lene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lene leans strongly female. 573 people counted with this name were female (90.0%), compared with 64 male bearers (10.0%). 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 Lene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lene is White at 67.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.0%) and Black (9.1%). 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 Lene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.1% (426 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 Lene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lene 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 Lene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lene 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 Lene 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 named Lene?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.