Liba
A feminine name of Slavic origin meaning "joy, happiness".
Name Census estimates that about 967 living Americans carry the first name Liba. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Liba today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Liba births was 2024 (58 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Liba. 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 Liba with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
967
~ 1 in 354,451 Americans
Peak year
2024
58 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,861
Tracked since 1956
Census
Liba in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 765 people with the first name Liba, which placed it at #15,141 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
#15,141
National first-name rank
People counted
765
765 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Liba
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Liba is White at 86.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (8.4%) and Hispanic (2.7%). 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 Liba 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 Liba at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.4% · 661
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.4% · 64
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 21
- Black or African American1.4% · 11
- Two or more races0.9% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Liba: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Liba from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 356 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Liba remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Liba 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 Liba during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Libas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, Illinois recorded the most babies named Liba, while Illinois, New Jersey, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 258 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Liba
The name Liba has its origins in the Slavic languages, where it is a diminutive form of the name Liubov or Lyubov, meaning "love" or "beloved." It is derived from the Proto-Slavic word "ljuby," which means "dear" or "pleasing." The name is predominantly found in Eastern and Central European countries, particularly in Russia, Poland, Ukraine, and Belarus.
In the historical context, the name Liba has been associated with various notable figures throughout the ages. One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name can be found in the Russian Primary Chronicle, a medieval historical text that chronicles the origins of the Kievan Rus' state in the 9th century. The text mentions a woman named Liba, who was a noblewoman and the wife of a prominent prince.
Another historical figure with the name Liba was Liba Parczewska, a Polish noble and landowner who lived in the 16th century. She was known for her role in the defense of her estate during the Polish-Muscovite War in the late 16th century.
In the realm of literature, the name Liba appears in the works of several notable authors. One example is the character of Liba Litvinova in the novel "The Possessed" by Fyodor Dostoevsky, which was published in 1872. The character is portrayed as a young woman from a wealthy family who becomes involved in revolutionary activities.
During the 20th century, the name Liba gained some prominence in the field of art and culture. Liba Sheynkman-Weinberg (1902-1988) was a Russian-American painter and printmaker who was known for her depictions of Jewish life and culture. Her works are held in the collections of several major museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Another notable figure with the name Liba was Liba Luria (1930-2005), an Israeli sculptor and artist who was known for her abstract and figurative works in various mediums, including bronze, wood, and stone. Her sculptures can be found in public spaces and galleries in Israel and around the world.
While the name Liba may not be as common as some other names, it has a rich history and cultural significance, particularly in the Slavic regions of Eastern and Central Europe. Its association with notable figures in various fields, from literature and art to history and politics, reflects the enduring appeal and versatility of this name.
People
Liba + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Liba 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
Liba: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Liba?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 967 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Liba 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 354,451 US residents.
Is Liba a common name?
We classify Liba as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 984 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Liba most popular?
The single biggest year for Liba was 2024, when 58 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Liba is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Liba in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 765 people with the name Liba, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,141 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 Liba 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 Liba?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Liba leans strongly female. 760 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 13 male bearers (1.7%). 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 Liba?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Liba is White at 86.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (8.4%) and Hispanic (2.7%). 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 Liba most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Liba in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.4% (661 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 Liba in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Liba a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Liba 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 Liba still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Liba 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 Liba 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 Americans are named Liba?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.