Loel
Of unknown meaning and origin, potentially derived from French.
Name Census estimates that about 141 living Americans carry the first name Loel. It is a predominantly male name (98.3% of registrations). The average person named Loel today is around 69 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Loel births was 1921 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Loel. 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 Loel with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Loel is about 69 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Loels were born before 1967.
People living today
141
~ 1 in 2,430,882 Americans
Peak year
1921
13 babies that year
Average age
69
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,036
Tracked since 1916
Census
Loel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 329 people with the first name Loel, which placed it at #27,678 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
#27,678
National first-name rank
People counted
329
329 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Loel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Loel is White at 73.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.3%). 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 Loel 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 Loel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.3% · 241
- Hispanic or Latino11.9% · 39
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.3% · 24
- Black or African American5.2% · 17
- Two or more races1.5% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Loel
Loel leans heavily male at 98.3% of total registrations, but 5 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Loel as a male name
- Ranked #11,758 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1921 (13 births)
Loel as a female name
- Ranked #5,036 in 1942
- 5 female births in 1942
- Peak: 1942 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Loel leans strongly male. 275 people counted with this name were male (83.3%), compared with 55 female bearers (16.7%).
Popularity
Loel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Loel from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 74 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
Loel 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 Loel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Loel
The name Loel is believed to have originated from the Old Norse language, which was spoken by the Germanic people in Scandinavia and parts of northern Europe during the Viking Age (793-1066 CE). It is thought to be derived from the Old Norse word "ljotr," meaning "ugly" or "deformed."
In ancient Norse mythology, there are references to beings or creatures with the name Loel, often associated with monstrous or grotesque appearances. One such reference is found in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems dating back to the 13th century, where a being called "Loel the Ugly" is mentioned.
The earliest recorded use of the name Loel can be traced back to the 10th century, when it appeared in historical records and chronicles of the time. One notable bearer of the name was Loel Thorfinnsson, a Norse chieftain who lived in the late 10th century and was known for his exploits in the Faroe Islands and parts of Scotland.
In the 11th century, a Viking warrior named Loel Eriksson was recorded as having participated in the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, where the Norse forces were defeated by the English army under King Harold Godwinson.
Another historical figure with the name Loel was a Norwegian noble and landowner named Loel Hakonsson, who lived in the late 12th century and was involved in conflicts between the Norwegian monarchy and the church.
In the 13th century, a Danish scholar and cleric named Loel Svendsen is mentioned in records as having authored several works on theology and philosophy, though few of his writings have survived to modern times.
During the 15th century, a Swedish military commander named Loel Gustafsson played a significant role in the conflicts between Sweden and Denmark-Norway, leading Swedish forces in several battles and sieges.
While the name Loel is uncommon in modern times, it has persisted throughout history, primarily in Scandinavian and Germanic regions, where it has maintained its connection to its Old Norse roots and associations with ancient mythology and folklore.
People
Loel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Loel 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
Loel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Loel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 141 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Loel 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 2,430,882 US residents.
Is Loel a common name?
We classify Loel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 69.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 289 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Loel most popular?
The single biggest year for Loel was 1921, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Loel is about 69 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Loel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 329 people with the name Loel, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,678 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 Loel 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 Loel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Loel leans strongly male. 275 people counted with this name were male (83.3%), compared with 55 female bearers (16.7%). 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 Loel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Loel is White at 73.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.3%). 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 Loel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Loel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.3% (241 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 Loel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Loel a male name?
Yes, 98.3% of people registered as Loel 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 Loel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Loel 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 Loel 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 common is the name Loel?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.