Loras
A masculine name of Old French origin meaning "laurel wreath".
Name Census estimates that about 122 living Americans carry the first name Loras. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Loras today is around 75 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Loras births was 1940 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Loras. 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 Loras is about 75 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Loras' were born before 1961.
People living today
122
~ 1 in 2,809,462 Americans
Peak year
1940
11 babies that year
Average age
75
years old
1964 SSA rank
#3,869
Tracked since 1915
Census
Loras in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 192 people with the first name Loras, which placed it at #39,369 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
#39,369
National first-name rank
People counted
192
192 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
94.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Loras
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Loras is White at 94.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%). 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 Loras 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 Loras at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.8% · 182
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 2
- Two or more races1.0% · 2
Popularity
Loras: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Loras from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 79 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Loras 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 Loras during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Loras' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Loras
The name Loras has its roots in the Old French language and is believed to have originated in the Middle Ages. It is a masculine given name derived from the Latin name Laurentius, which itself traces back to the Roman family name Laurentius, meaning "from Laurentum," an ancient city located near Rome.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Loras can be found in medieval French literature, where it was used as a variant spelling of the more common name Lorent or Laurent. The name gained popularity in France during the 12th and 13th centuries, particularly among the nobility and upper classes.
In terms of historical references, the name Loras appears in several medieval texts and chronicles. For instance, a knight named Loras de Montfort is mentioned in the chronicles of the Third Crusade (1189-1192), where he is described as a valiant warrior who fought alongside Richard the Lionheart.
Notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Loras include:
1. Loras d'Anjou (1224-1270), a French nobleman and military commander who played a significant role in the Seventh Crusade.
2. Loras de Sully (1279-1343), a French architect and engineer best known for his work on the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris.
3. Loras de Valois (1384-1437), a French prince and military leader who fought in the Hundred Years' War.
4. Loras de Montmorency (1493-1567), a French nobleman and Marshal of France during the reigns of Francis I and Henry II.
5. Loras de Vaudreuil (1629-1703), a French colonial administrator who served as the Governor-General of New France (present-day Canada) from 1703 until his death.
While the name Loras has fallen out of widespread use in modern times, it remains a part of historical records and literary works, serving as a reminder of its rich heritage and connections to the medieval era of French culture and society.
People
Loras + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Loras 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
Loras: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Loras?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 122 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Loras 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 2,809,462 US residents.
Is Loras a common name?
We classify Loras as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 227 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Loras most popular?
The single biggest year for Loras was 1940, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Loras is about 75 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Loras in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 192 people with the name Loras, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,369 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 Loras 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 Loras?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Loras leans strongly male. 176 people counted with this name were male (92.1%), compared with 15 female bearers (7.9%). 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 Loras?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Loras is White at 94.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (3.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%). 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 Loras most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Loras in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.8% (182 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 Loras in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Loras a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Loras 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 Loras still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Loras 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 Loras 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 Loras?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Loras, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.