Lonza
A name with Latin origins meaning "dweller in the valley".
Name Census estimates that about 100 living Americans carry the first name Lonza. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Lonza today is around 77 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lonza births was 1916 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lonza. 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 Lonza is about 77 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Lonzas were born before 1959.
People living today
100
~ 1 in 3,427,543 Americans
Peak year
1916
14 babies that year
Average age
77
years old
1971 SSA rank
#4,716
Tracked since 1900
Census
Lonza in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 133 people with the first name Lonza, which placed it at #48,223 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
#48,223
National first-name rank
People counted
133
133 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
75.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lonza
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lonza is Black at 75.2%. The next largest groups are White (16.5%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). 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 Lonza 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 Lonza at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American75.2% · 100
- White16.5% · 22
- Two or more races5.3% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 2
Popularity
Lonza: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lonza from the 1900s through to the 1970s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 100 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
Lonza 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 Lonza during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lonzas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Lonza
The name Lonza is believed to have its origins in the Galician language, which is closely related to Portuguese and spoken in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. The name is thought to be derived from the Galician word "lonza," meaning "haunch" or "gammon," a cut of meat from the hind leg of a pig or other animal.
In medieval times, the name Lonza may have been used as a nickname or surname for someone who worked with or sold this particular cut of meat, such as a butcher or a merchant. It's possible that the name was later adopted as a given name, though its precise transition from surname to first name is not entirely clear.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Lonza was Lonza Álvarez, a Galician noblewoman who lived in the 13th century. She was a prominent figure in the court of King Alfonso X of Castile and León, and her name appears in several historical documents from that period.
In the 15th century, a Spanish explorer named Lonza de Mendoza is said to have accompanied Christopher Columbus on one of his voyages to the Americas. De Mendoza's exact role in the expedition is not well documented, but his name has been recorded in some historical accounts of the time.
Another notable figure with the name Lonza was Lonza Fernández, a Spanish painter who lived in the 16th century. Fernández was known for her religious artwork, particularly her depictions of the Virgin Mary, and her works can still be found in several churches and museums in Spain.
In the 17th century, a Galician poet named Lonza de Castro gained recognition for her lyrical verse and contributions to the region's literary tradition. Her poems often explored themes of love, nature, and the Galician way of life.
Lastly, Lonza González was a Spanish soldier and military leader who fought in the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s. González rose through the ranks and became a respected commander known for his bravery and strategic prowess on the battlefield.
While the name Lonza has its roots in the Galician language and culture, it has also been adopted and used in other parts of Spain and beyond, though its popularity has remained relatively limited compared to more common Spanish names.
People
Lonza + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lonza 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
Lonza: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lonza?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 100 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lonza 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 3,427,543 US residents.
Is Lonza a common name?
We classify Lonza as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 360 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lonza most popular?
The single biggest year for Lonza was 1916, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lonza 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 Lonza in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 133 people with the name Lonza, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,223 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 Lonza 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 Lonza?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lonza leans strongly male. 124 people counted with this name were male (89.9%), compared with 14 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 Lonza?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lonza is Black at 75.2%. The next largest groups are White (16.5%) and Two or More Races (5.3%). 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 Lonza most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lonza in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.2% (100 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 Lonza in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lonza a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lonza 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 Lonza still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lonza 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 Lonza 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 Lonza?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.