Loreto
A feminine Italian name derived from the Italian town of Loreto.
Name Census estimates that about 336 living Americans carry the first name Loreto. It is a predominantly male name (95.9% of registrations). The average person named Loreto today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Loreto births was 1924 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Loreto. 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
336
~ 1 in 1,020,102 Americans
Peak year
1924
15 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2023 SSA rank
#8,651
Tracked since 1915
Census
Loreto in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,069 people with the first name Loreto, which placed it at #7,393 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
#7,393
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,069 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
54.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Loreto
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Loreto is Hispanic at 54.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (33.6%) and White (11.3%). 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 Loreto 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 Loreto at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino54.1% · 1,119
- Asian and Pacific Islander33.6% · 696
- White11.3% · 234
- Two or more races0.7% · 14
- Black or African American0.3% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Loreto
Loreto leans heavily male at 95.9% of total registrations, but 21 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Loreto as a male name
- Ranked #8,651 in 2023
- 9 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1923 (14 births)
Loreto as a female name
- Ranked #16,620 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1972 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Loreto on both sides of the split. Of the 2,075 people counted with this name, 1,367 were male (65.9%) and 708 were female (34.1%).
Popularity
Loreto: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Loreto from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 94 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
Loreto 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 Loreto during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Loretos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Loreto
The name Loreto is of Italian origin and is believed to have derived from the Latin word "lauretum," which means "laurel grove." The laurel is a tree associated with victory, honor, and peace in ancient Roman culture.
The name is closely tied to the town of Loreto in Italy, which is home to the Basilica della Santa Casa, a revered Catholic shrine that houses the Holy House of the Virgin Mary, according to Catholic tradition. The town's name is thought to have come from the laurel trees that once grew in abundance in the area.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Loreto can be found in the 13th century, when it was used as a title for the Virgin Mary, particularly in reference to the Basilica della Santa Casa. The name gained popularity as a given name for both boys and girls in Italy during the Middle Ages, likely due to its connection to the Virgin Mary and the holy site.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Loreto. One of the earliest was Loreto Vittori (1532-1617), an Italian painter and architect who worked in Rome during the Renaissance. Another notable figure was Loreto Aprile (1610-1693), an Italian painter and engraver from Naples.
In the 19th century, Loreto Aprutino (1815-1899) was an Italian politician and patriot who fought for the unification of Italy. Loreto Vittori (1848-1931) was an Italian mathematician and engineer who made significant contributions to the field of algebraic geometry.
More recently, Loreto Sesma (1901-1976) was a Mexican actress and singer who appeared in numerous films during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. Loreto Segura (1905-1982) was a Mexican politician and lawyer who served as the governor of Michoacán from 1960 to 1966.
While the name Loreto has its roots in Italian culture and Catholic tradition, it has been used in various parts of the world, particularly among those of Italian descent or with connections to the Catholic faith.
People
Loreto + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Loreto 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
Loreto: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Loreto?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 336 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Loreto 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 1,020,102 US residents.
Is Loreto a common name?
We classify Loreto as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 515 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Loreto most popular?
The single biggest year for Loreto was 1924, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Loreto is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Loreto in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,069 people with the name Loreto, or 0.69 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,393 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 Loreto 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 Loreto?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Loreto on both sides of the split. Of the 2,075 people counted with this name, 1,367 were male (65.9%) and 708 were female (34.1%). 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 Loreto?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Loreto is Hispanic at 54.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (33.6%) and White (11.3%). 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 Loreto most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Loreto in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.1% (1,119 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 Loreto in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Loreto a male name?
Yes, 95.9% of people registered as Loreto 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 Loreto still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Loreto 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 Loreto 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 Loreto as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Loreto, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.