Lorenz
A masculine name of Germanic origin meaning "laurel wreath bearer".
Name Census estimates that about 951 living Americans carry the first name Lorenz. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Lorenz today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lorenz births was 1918 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lorenz. 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.
People living today
951
~ 1 in 360,415 Americans
Peak year
1918
39 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,060
Tracked since 1882
Popularity
Lorenz: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lorenz from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 266 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lorenz 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 Lorenz during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lorenz' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. California, Iowa, Illinois recorded the most babies named Lorenz, while Texas, New York, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lorenz
The name Lorenz originates from the Late Latin name Laurentius, which in turn derives from the Roman family name Laurentius. This family name was derived from the Latin word "laurus" meaning "laurel". The laurel was a plant that was sacred to the Roman god Apollo and symbolized victory, honor, and fame.
Laurentius was an extremely popular name among early Christians, as it was borne by the 3rd century Spanish martyr Saint Laurentius. This saint was a deacon in Rome who was put to death by the Roman authorities for his Christian faith during the persecution of Emperor Valerian in 258 AD. His martyrdom led to the widespread adoption of his name throughout Europe.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Lorenz can be found in the 6th century, with the Frankish bishop Saint Lorenz of Lauriacum (also known as Saint Lorenz of Lorch). He lived from around 530 to 619 AD and was a missionary who helped spread Christianity in what is now Austria.
A notable bearer of the name was Lorenz Oken, a German naturalist and philosopher who lived from 1779 to 1851. He is considered one of the founders of the scientific disciplines of biology and embryology. Another famous Lorenz was the Austrian-British philosopher and mathematician, Konrad Lorenz, who lived from 1903 to 1989. He is best known for his work on animal behavior and for establishing the field of ethology, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1973.
The name Lorenz was also borne by the American chemist and Nobel laureate, Linus Pauling, whose given name at birth was Linus Carl Pauling (1901-1994). He is renowned for his groundbreaking work on the chemical bond and for his contributions to the fields of quantum chemistry and molecular biology.
Finally, a notable bearer of the name in the field of music was the American jazz pianist and composer Lorenz Hart, who lived from 1895 to 1943. He is best known for his successful collaboration with composer Richard Rodgers, which produced numerous popular musicals and songs during the Golden Age of Broadway.
People
Lorenz + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lorenz 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
Lorenz: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lorenz?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 951 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lorenz 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 360,415 US residents.
Is Lorenz a common name?
We classify Lorenz as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,746 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lorenz most popular?
The single biggest year for Lorenz was 1918, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lorenz is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lorenz a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lorenz 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.
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.