Levada
Feminine Portuguese name meaning a narrow canal for irrigation or drainage.
Name Census estimates that about 86 living Americans carry the first name Levada. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Levada today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Levada births was 1920 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Levada. 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 Levada is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Levadas were born before 1959.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Levada. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
86
~ 1 in 3,985,516 Americans
Peak year
1920
22 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
2008 SSA rank
#19,260
Tracked since 1891
Census
Levada in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 192 people with the first name Levada, which placed it at #39,369 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
#39,369
National first-name rank
People counted
192
192 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Levada
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Levada is Black at 50.0%. The next largest groups are White (44.3%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Levada 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 Levada at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.0% · 96
- White44.3% · 85
- Two or more races4.2% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino1.0% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Levada: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Levada from the 1890s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 151 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
Levada 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 Levada during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Levadas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Levada
The name Levada is of Portuguese origin, derived from the word "levada," which means "watercourse" or "irrigation canal." The name likely emerged in the 15th or 16th century during the Portuguese Age of Discovery, when the country was expanding its maritime explorations and establishing colonies around the world.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Levada can be found in the records of the Portuguese settlements in the Madeira Islands, located off the northwest coast of Africa. The islands were known for their intricate system of levadas, or small aqueducts, used for irrigation and water distribution. It is believed that the name Levada was given to individuals who lived near or were associated with these watercourses.
While the name Levada does not appear to have any significant religious or historical references, it has been borne by a few notable individuals throughout history. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Levada da Silva, a Portuguese explorer who accompanied Vasco da Gama on his voyage to India in the late 15th century.
In the 17th century, Levada Fernandes was a renowned architect who designed several churches and monuments in the Portuguese colony of Brazil. His most notable work is the Igreja de São Francisco in Salvador, which is considered a masterpiece of colonial Baroque architecture.
During the 19th century, Levada Oliveira was a prominent figure in the abolitionist movement in Brazil. She was a vocal advocate for the emancipation of enslaved people and played a significant role in the eventual abolition of slavery in the country in 1888.
In the early 20th century, Levada Carvalho was a celebrated Portuguese writer and poet. Her collection of poems, "Canções da Alma" (Songs of the Soul), published in 1922, is considered a seminal work of modern Portuguese literature.
Another notable individual with the name Levada was Levada Pinto, a pioneering female aviator from Portugal who became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1936, at the age of 28.
These are just a few examples of individuals who have borne the name Levada throughout history, highlighting its Portuguese roots and its association with various fields, from exploration and architecture to literature and aviation.
People
Levada + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Levada 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
Levada: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Levada?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 86 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Levada 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 3,985,516 US residents.
Is Levada a common name?
We classify Levada as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 532 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Levada most popular?
The single biggest year for Levada was 1920, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Levada is about 77 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Levada in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 192 people with the name Levada, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,369 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 Levada 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 Levada?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Levada leans strongly female. 184 people counted with this name were female (93.9%), compared with 12 male bearers (6.1%). 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 Levada?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Levada is Black at 50.0%. The next largest groups are White (44.3%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Levada most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Levada in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.0% (96 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 Levada in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Levada a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Levada 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 Levada still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Levada 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 Levada 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 called Levada?
You can see how many people share the name Levada on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.