Lorayne
A feminine name derived from the French lauraine, meaning a little laurel.
Name Census estimates that about 273 living Americans carry the first name Lorayne. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lorayne today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lorayne births was 1922 (64 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lorayne. 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 Lorayne is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Loraynes were born before 1969.
People living today
273
~ 1 in 1,255,510 Americans
Peak year
1922
64 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
2022 SSA rank
#16,718
Tracked since 1903
Popularity
Lorayne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lorayne from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 434 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
Lorayne 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 Lorayne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Loraynes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin recorded the most babies named Lorayne, while Missouri, Texas, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lorayne
The name Lorayne is a variation of the French name Lorraine, which originated from the region of Lorraine in northeastern France. The name Lorraine itself is derived from the Germanic word "Lothringen," meaning "the kingdom of Lothar." This refers to the historical kingdom of Lotharingia, which was named after King Lothair II, who ruled the region in the 9th century.
The earliest recorded use of the name Lorayne dates back to the late 19th century, although it was relatively uncommon until the mid-20th century. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Lorayne Braley, an American actress born in 1895, who appeared in several silent films during the 1920s.
In literature, the name Lorayne was used for a character in the 1942 novel "The Seventh Cross" by Anna Seghers, set during the rise of Nazism in Germany. This helped to popularize the name in the United States and other English-speaking countries.
One of the most famous individuals named Lorayne was Lorayne Tufeld, better known as Lorayne Brox, an American singer and actress born in 1953. She gained fame as a member of the pop group The Lollipop Guild in the 1960s and later pursued a successful acting career.
Another notable Lorayne was Lorayne Loring, an American actress born in 1924, who appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout the mid-20th century, including roles in "The Girl Can't Help It" (1956) and "The Manchurian Candidate" (1962).
In the field of magic and mentalism, Lorayne was the stage name of Harry Lorayne, an American memory expert and magician born in 1926. He authored numerous books on memory techniques and was renowned for his exceptional memory demonstrations and card magic routines.
While the name Lorayne has never been among the most popular given names, it has a rich history dating back to the medieval period and has been borne by notable individuals in various fields, including entertainment, literature, and magic.
People
Lorayne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lorayne 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
Lorayne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lorayne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 273 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lorayne 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 1,255,510 US residents.
Is Lorayne a common name?
We classify Lorayne as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,157 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lorayne most popular?
The single biggest year for Lorayne was 1922, when 64 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lorayne is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lorayne a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lorayne 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.