Lennart
A masculine given name of Germanic origin meaning "lion strength".
Name Census estimates that about 131 living Americans carry the first name Lennart. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Lennart today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lennart births was 1916 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lennart. 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 Lennart is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Lennarts were born before 1970.
People living today
131
~ 1 in 2,616,445 Americans
Peak year
1916
18 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
2021 SSA rank
#13,290
Tracked since 1911
Popularity
Lennart: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lennart from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 102 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lennart 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 Lennart during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lennarts live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Illinois, New York, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Lennart, while Massachusetts, New York, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lennart
The name Lennart originates from the Germanic languages, particularly Old Norse and Old Swedish. It is a compound name derived from the elements "lenn," meaning "lion," and "hardr," meaning "hardy" or "brave." The name can be traced back to the Viking Age and the early medieval period in Scandinavia.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lennart can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, which were written in the 13th and 14th centuries. These sagas often featured characters with Norse names, reflecting the cultural and linguistic heritage of the region.
In Sweden, the name Lennart gained popularity during the Middle Ages and has remained a common name throughout Swedish history. It was particularly prevalent among the nobility and upper classes, with several notable individuals bearing the name.
One of the most famous historical figures with the name Lennart was Lennart Torstensson (1603-1651), a Swedish military leader and field marshal during the Thirty Years' War. He played a crucial role in several victories for Sweden and is remembered as one of the country's greatest military strategists.
Another noteworthy individual was Lennart Nilsson (1922-2017), a Swedish photographer and scientist known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of embryonic development. His book, "A Child is Born," published in 1965, featured groundbreaking images of the stages of human gestation and became an international bestseller.
In the field of literature, Lennart Hellsing (1919-2015) was a renowned Swedish author, poet, and translator. He was awarded the prestigious Bellman Prize in 1976 for his literary contributions.
Moving into the realm of music, Lennart Åberg (1942-2022) was a Swedish singer-songwriter and musician who achieved significant popularity in the 1960s and 1970s with his folk-inspired compositions.
Finally, Lennart Meri (1929-2006) was an Estonian writer, filmmaker, and politician who served as the second President of Estonia from 1992 to 2001. He played a crucial role in Estonia's transition to independence and democracy after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
These examples illustrate the rich history and diverse contexts in which the name Lennart has been used throughout the centuries, reflecting its enduring presence in Scandinavian and Nordic cultures.
People
Lennart + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lennart 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
Lennart: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lennart?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 131 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lennart 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 2,616,445 US residents.
Is Lennart a common name?
We classify Lennart as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 426 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lennart most popular?
The single biggest year for Lennart was 1916, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lennart is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lennart a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lennart 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.
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.