Levan
A masculine name of Georgian origin meaning "lionlike" or "lion-hearted".
Name Census estimates that about 410 living Americans carry the first name Levan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Levan today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Levan births was 1978 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Levan. 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 Levan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
410
~ 1 in 835,986 Americans
Peak year
1978
14 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,678
Tracked since 1916
Census
Levan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 714 people with the first name Levan, which placed it at #15,948 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
#15,948
National first-name rank
People counted
714
714 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Levan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Levan is White at 49.3%. The next largest groups are Black (35.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.7%). 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 Levan 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 Levan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.3% · 352
- Black or African American35.6% · 254
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.7% · 55
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 25
- Two or more races3.4% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
Popularity
Levan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Levan from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 86 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Levan 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 Levan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Levans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Levan
The name Levan originates from the Georgian language, which is spoken in the country of Georgia, located in the Caucasus region at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. The name is believed to have its roots in the ancient Georgian word "levi," meaning "lion."
In Georgian culture, the lion has long been revered as a symbol of strength, courage, and nobility. Consequently, names derived from "levi" were often given to male children as a way of bestowing these admirable qualities upon them.
The earliest known record of the name Levan dates back to the 12th century, during the reign of the Georgian king David IV, also known as David the Builder. One of David IV's most prominent military leaders was a nobleman named Levan Dadiani, who played a crucial role in the king's successful campaigns against the Seljuk Turks.
Throughout Georgian history, the name Levan has been borne by several notable figures. One of the most famous was Levan Meliqishvili (1905-1971), a renowned Georgian painter and artist who was celebrated for his vibrant and expressive works depicting scenes from rural Georgian life.
Another prominent Levan was Levan Tediashvili (1936-2009), a celebrated Georgian actor and theatre director who helped popularize Georgian theatre on the international stage. His performances in classical plays by Shakespeare and Molière earned him numerous awards and accolades.
In the realm of sports, Levan Tsutskiridze (1935-2014) was a legendary Georgian weightlifter who won multiple Olympic gold medals and set numerous world records during his illustrious career.
Beyond Georgia, the name Levan has also been adopted in other cultures, particularly in countries with significant Georgian diaspora communities. For instance, in Russia, there was a notable Soviet-era actor named Levan Gabriadze (1906-1980), who starred in several popular films of the time.
While the name Levan may not be as widely known outside of Georgia and its cultural sphere of influence, it remains a significant and revered name within Georgian tradition, carrying with it the weight of history, cultural symbolism, and a sense of pride in the nation's rich heritage.
People
Levan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Levan 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
Levan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Levan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 410 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Levan 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 835,986 US residents.
Is Levan a common name?
We classify Levan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 597 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Levan most popular?
The single biggest year for Levan was 1978, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Levan is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Levan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 714 people with the name Levan, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,948 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 Levan 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 Levan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Levan leans strongly male. 643 people counted with this name were male (89.9%), compared with 72 female bearers (10.1%). 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 Levan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Levan is White at 49.3%. The next largest groups are Black (35.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.7%). 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 Levan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Levan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.3% (352 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 Levan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Levan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Levan 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 Levan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Levan 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 Levan 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 have the name Levan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.