Lo
A unisex given name of Chinese origin meaning "radiant" or "elegant".
Name Census estimates that about 65 living Americans carry the first name Lo. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 61.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Lo today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lo births was 1987 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lo. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Lo. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
65
~ 1 in 5,273,144 Americans
Peak year
1987
7 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
1997 SSA rank
#10,190
Tracked since 1920
Census
Lo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,083 people with the first name Lo, which placed it at #11,716 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
#11,716
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,083 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
50.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lo is Asian/Pacific Islander at 50.3%. The next largest groups are White (26.8%) and Hispanic (10.7%). 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 Lo 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 Lo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander50.3% · 545
- White26.8% · 290
- Hispanic or Latino10.7% · 116
- Black or African American8.8% · 95
- Two or more races2.9% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Lo
Lo is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 86 total registrations, 33 (38.4%) were male and 53 (61.6%) were female.
Lo as a male name
- Ranked #10,190 in 1997
- 5 male births in 1997
- Peak: 1987 (7 births)
Lo as a female name
- Ranked #16,609 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1935 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lo on both sides of the split. Of the 1,085 people counted with this name, 599 were male (55.2%) and 486 were female (44.8%).
Popularity
Lo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lo from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 23 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
Lo 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 Lo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Los live
Origin
Meaning and history of Lo
The name Lo has its origins in Chinese culture and language. It is a diminutive or shortened form of various longer Chinese names such as Luo, Lobo, or Loeun. The name can be traced back to ancient China, where it was commonly used as a name or surname.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Lo can be found in the historical records of the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). During this period, there were several notable individuals with the name Lo, including Lo Guan, a prominent military general and strategist who served under the Han Emperor Guangwu.
In Buddhist scriptures and texts, the name Lo appears as a variant spelling of the Sanskrit word "Loka," which means "world" or "universe." This connection suggests that the name may have been associated with spiritual or philosophical concepts in ancient times.
Throughout Chinese history, there have been several notable figures bearing the name Lo. One such individual was Lo Kuan-chung, a celebrated Chinese novelist and playwright who lived during the 14th century. His most famous work, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms," is considered a masterpiece of Chinese literature.
Another historical figure of note was Lo Ping-Tzu, a renowned Taoist philosopher and alchemist who lived during the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907 AD). His writings and teachings on Taoism, alchemy, and the pursuit of immortality have had a significant influence on Chinese culture and philosophy.
In the realm of art and culture, the name Lo has also left its mark. Lo Cheng, a renowned Chinese landscape painter and calligrapher, lived during the 8th century AD and is celebrated for his innovative techniques and influential works.
While the name Lo has its roots in Chinese culture, it has also been adopted and used in other parts of the world. For instance, in Vietnam, the name Lo is sometimes used as a diminutive form of longer names such as Loi or Luan.
People
Lo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lo 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
Lo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 65 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lo 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 5,273,144 US residents.
Is Lo a common name?
We classify Lo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 86 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lo most popular?
The single biggest year for Lo was 1987, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lo is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,083 people with the name Lo, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,716 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 Lo 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 Lo?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lo on both sides of the split. Of the 1,085 people counted with this name, 599 were male (55.2%) and 486 were female (44.8%). 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 Lo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lo is Asian/Pacific Islander at 50.3%. The next largest groups are White (26.8%) and Hispanic (10.7%). 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 Lo most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Lo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.3% (545 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 Lo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lo a female name?
Yes, 61.6% of people registered as Lo 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 Lo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lo 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 Lo 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 Lo as a first name?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Lo at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.