Lennon
Of Irish origin, meaning "lover" or "descended from the lover".
Name Census estimates that about 18,438 living Americans carry the first name Lennon. It sits at #237 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 59.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Lennon today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lennon births was 2022 (1,730 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lennon. 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
- • Lennon started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
- • Lennon sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
- • Lennon is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
18K
~ 1 in 18,590 Americans
Peak year
2022
1,730 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#237
Tracked since 1913
Gender
Gender distribution for Lennon
Lennon is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 18,838 total registrations, 7,694 (40.8%) were male and 11,144 (59.2%) were female.
Lennon as a male name
- Ranked #784 in 2024
- 320 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (451 births)
Lennon as a female name
- Ranked #237 in 2024
- 1,311 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (1,318 births)
Popularity
Lennon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lennon from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 8,089 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lennon 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 Lennon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lennons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 48 states and territories. California, Texas, Michigan recorded the most babies named Lennon, while Delaware, Alaska, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 324 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lennon
The name Lennon is an anglicized version of the Irish surname Ó Leannáin, which means "descendant of Leannán". Leannán is derived from the Irish word "leannán" meaning "lover" or "sweetheart". The name has its roots in the Gaelic culture of Ireland, where it was originally a patronymic surname.
In Ireland, the name Lennon first appeared in historical records in the 12th century, with references to individuals bearing this surname in County Galway and County Mayo. The name gained prominence during the Middle Ages, particularly among families associated with the Gaelic nobility and clans of Ireland.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Lennon was Muircheartach Ó Leannáin, a 14th-century Irish poet and historian from County Mayo. His work, known as the "Annals of Connacht", is a valuable source of information about Irish history during that period.
In the 16th century, the name Lennon appeared in the Annals of the Four Masters, a chronicle of medieval Irish history compiled by the Franciscan friars of Donegal. The annals mention several individuals with the surname Ó Leannáin, indicating their involvement in various events and conflicts of that era.
One of the most famous individuals to bear the name Lennon was John Lennon (1940-1980), the English singer, songwriter, and co-founder of the legendary rock band The Beatles. Although he did not carry the name from birth, he adopted the stage name "Lennon" as a tribute to his Irish heritage.
Another notable figure with the name Lennon was Annie Lennox (born 1954), the Scottish singer, songwriter, and political activist. While not directly related to the Irish surname, her stage name is believed to be inspired by the surname Lennon, reflecting her interest in her Scottish and Irish roots.
Other individuals with the first name Lennon include:
1. Lennon Parham (born 1976), an American actress and comedian.
2. Lennon Murphy (born 1996), an American actress and singer.
3. Lennon Stella (born 1999), a Canadian actress and singer-songwriter.
4. Lennon Lacy (1999-2014), an African American teenager whose death in North Carolina sparked national attention and debates about racial injustice.
5. Lennon Gallagher (born 1999), the son of Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, named after John Lennon.
While the name Lennon has Irish origins, it has gained global recognition and popularity, particularly in the English-speaking world, due to the fame of individuals like John Lennon and the enduring influence of Irish culture and heritage.
People
Lennon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lennon 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
Lennon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lennon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 18,438 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lennon 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 18,590 US residents.
Is Lennon a common name?
We classify Lennon as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 18,838 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lennon most popular?
The single biggest year for Lennon was 2022, when 1,730 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lennon is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lennon a female name?
Yes, 59.2% of people registered as Lennon 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.
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.