Lenwood
Of Old English origin, a combination of the elements "lene" meaning land and "wudu" meaning wood.
Name Census estimates that about 1,108 living Americans carry the first name Lenwood. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Lenwood today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lenwood births was 1949 (60 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lenwood. 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 Lenwood is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Lenwoods were born before 1969.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 309,345 Americans
Peak year
1949
60 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
2004 SSA rank
#12,455
Tracked since 1892
Census
Lenwood in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 889 people with the first name Lenwood, which placed it at #13,542 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
#13,542
National first-name rank
People counted
889
889 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
60.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lenwood
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lenwood is Black at 60.6%. The next largest groups are White (32.4%) and Two or More Races (4.0%). 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 Lenwood 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 Lenwood at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American60.6% · 539
- White32.4% · 288
- Two or more races4.0% · 36
- Hispanic or Latino1.2% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 5
Popularity
Lenwood: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lenwood from the 1890s through to the 2000s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 422 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lenwood 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 Lenwood during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lenwoods live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. North Carolina, Virginia, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Lenwood, while Maryland, Florida, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 107 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lenwood
The name Lenwood is an English given name that originated in the medieval period. It is a combination of two Old English words, "lenu" meaning "pasture" or "meadow," and "wudu" meaning "wood" or "forest." The name was likely given to individuals born or residing in a pastoral area near a wooded region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lenwood can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Lenuuuode," referring to a person who lived in a settlement near a pasture surrounded by woods.
During the Middle Ages, the name Lenwood was primarily used by individuals from rural areas of England, particularly in the counties of Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, and Somerset. It was a common practice to name children after the surrounding landscape or geographical features, reflecting the strong connection between people and their natural environment.
In the 14th century, a notable bearer of the name Lenwood was a monk and scribe known as Brother Lenwood, who was responsible for transcribing several religious texts and manuscripts at the Benedictine monastery in Malmesbury, Wiltshire.
Another historical figure named Lenwood was a soldier who fought in the Battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Years' War in 1415. He is mentioned in the chronicles of the time as "Lenwood of Tewkesbury," suggesting he hailed from the town of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire.
During the Tudor period, a prominent individual named Lenwood was a merchant and landowner from Salisbury, Wiltshire. Records from the 16th century indicate that he was involved in the wool trade and owned substantial property in the region.
In the 17th century, a notable bearer of the name Lenwood was a Puritan minister who served in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. He was known for his fiery sermons and advocacy for religious reform.
Another Lenwood of historical significance was a British explorer who accompanied Captain James Cook on his voyages to the Pacific Ocean in the late 18th century. He is credited with documenting several previously unknown islands and territories.
While the name Lenwood has become less common in recent times, it remains a distinctive and evocative name with deep roots in English history and a strong connection to the natural landscape.
People
Lenwood + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lenwood 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
Lenwood: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lenwood?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,108 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lenwood 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 309,345 US residents.
Is Lenwood a common name?
We classify Lenwood as "Rare". It ranks above 90.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,423 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lenwood most popular?
The single biggest year for Lenwood was 1949, when 60 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lenwood is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lenwood in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 889 people with the name Lenwood, or 0.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,542 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 Lenwood 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 Lenwood?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lenwood appears almost entirely male. Of the 890 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Lenwood?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lenwood is Black at 60.6%. The next largest groups are White (32.4%) and Two or More Races (4.0%). 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 Lenwood most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lenwood in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.6% (539 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 Lenwood in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lenwood a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lenwood 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 Lenwood still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lenwood 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 Lenwood 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 Lenwood?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.