Loraine
A feminine French name derived from the regional name Lorraine, meaning "from Lotharingia".
Name Census estimates that about 5,862 living Americans carry the first name Loraine. It is a predominantly female name (98.1% of registrations). The average person named Loraine today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Loraine births was 1922 (439 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Loraine. 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
- • Although Loraine is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 340 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
5.9K
~ 1 in 58,471 Americans
Peak year
1922
439 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
1940 SSA rank
#3,745
Tracked since 1883
Gender
Gender distribution for Loraine
Loraine leans heavily female at 98.1% of total registrations, but 340 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Loraine as a male name
- Ranked #3,745 in 1940
- 5 male births in 1940
- Peak: 1923 (24 births)
Loraine as a female name
- Ranked #6,794 in 2024
- 17 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1922 (424 births)
Popularity
Loraine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Loraine from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 4,125 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
Loraine 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 Loraine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Loraines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 42 states and territories. New York, Michigan, Texas recorded the most babies named Loraine, while Rhode Island, Idaho, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 287 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Loraine
The name Loraine has its roots in the French language, deriving from the ancient regional name "Lorraine." This region, located in modern-day northeastern France, was historically known as the Duchy of Lorraine. The name itself can be traced back to the Latin word "Lotharingia," which referred to the territories assigned to the Frankish ruler Lothair I in the 9th century.
The earliest recorded use of the name Loraine can be found in medieval French documents from the 12th and 13th centuries. It was initially a regional surname before gaining popularity as a given name in its own right. In the 14th century, the name was associated with the House of Lorraine, a prominent noble family that ruled the Duchy of Lorraine for several centuries.
One of the earliest notable figures bearing the name Loraine was Lorraine of Vaudémont (1390-1453), a noblewoman and the wife of King René of Anjou. During the Renaissance period, the name gained further prominence with Lorraine de Guise (1553-1601), a French princess and member of the influential House of Guise.
In the 17th century, the name Loraine was introduced to England and became increasingly popular among the English nobility. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Lorraine, Duchess of Cleveland (1642-1709), a prominent mistress of King Charles II of England.
The name Loraine also found its way into literature and art. In the 19th century, the French writer Alfred de Musset featured a character named Lorraine in his play "Lorenzaccio." Additionally, the American artist Loraine Hansberry (1930-1965) gained widespread recognition for her groundbreaking play "A Raisin in the Sun," which explored themes of racial injustice and the pursuit of the American Dream.
Other notable individuals named Loraine throughout history include Loraine Vivian Hansberry (1899-1972), an American educator and mother of the aforementioned playwright; Loraine Masterton (1932-2014), an American operatic soprano; Loraine Toussaint (born 1960), an American actress known for her roles in various television series; and Loraine Chia (born 1978), a Singaporean singer and songwriter.
People
Loraine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Loraine 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
Loraine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Loraine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,862 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Loraine 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 58,471 US residents.
Is Loraine a common name?
We classify Loraine as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17,599 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Loraine most popular?
The single biggest year for Loraine was 1922, when 439 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Loraine is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Loraine a female name?
Yes, 98.1% of people registered as Loraine 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.
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.