Louna
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly from the French word "lune" meaning moon.
Name Census estimates that about 154 living Americans carry the first name Louna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Louna today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Louna births was 2016 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Louna. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Louna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
154
~ 1 in 2,225,678 Americans
Peak year
2016
35 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,654
Tracked since 2012
Census
Louna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 334 people with the first name Louna, which placed it at #27,416 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
#27,416
National first-name rank
People counted
334
334 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
45.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Louna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Louna is Black at 45.5%. The next largest groups are White (33.8%) and Hispanic (12.6%). 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 Louna 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 Louna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.5% · 152
- White33.8% · 113
- Hispanic or Latino12.6% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 13
- Two or more races3.6% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 2
Popularity
Louna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Louna from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 108 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Louna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Louna 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 Louna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lounas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Louna
The name Louna has its origins in the Arabic language and culture, dating back to the medieval period. It is believed to be derived from the Arabic word "loun," which means "color" or "hue." This name was likely given to children born with striking or unique features, such as distinctive hair or eye color.
In the early days of Islam, the name Louna was not widely used, as it was not found in religious texts or scriptures. However, as Arabic culture spread and evolved, the name gained popularity in various regions of the Middle East and North Africa.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Louna can be found in a 12th-century manuscript from Andalusia, where it was mentioned as the name of a young woman from a noble family. This suggests that the name was in use among the upper classes of society during that time period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Louna. In the 14th century, Louna al-Qurashi was a renowned poet and scholar from Damascus, known for her contributions to Arabic literature. Another notable figure was Louna bint Abdullah, a 16th-century philosopher and mathematician from Cairo, who made significant advancements in the field of geometry.
In the modern era, the name Louna has been carried by several influential figures as well. Louna Lakhdar, born in 1950, is an Algerian novelist and activist who has written extensively on women's rights and social issues. Louna Maroun, born in 1970, is a Lebanese singer and songwriter who has achieved international acclaim for her fusion of traditional Arabic music with contemporary styles.
Another notable bearer of the name was Louna Touma, a Syrian painter and sculptor who lived from 1924 to 2008. Her works, which often depicted scenes from everyday life in the Middle East, are celebrated for their vibrant colors and intricate details.
While the name Louna is still relatively uncommon in many parts of the world, it has maintained a strong presence in Arabic-speaking regions, where it continues to be passed down through generations as a nod to cultural heritage and tradition.
People
Louna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Louna 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
Louna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Louna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 154 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Louna 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 2,225,678 US residents.
Is Louna a common name?
We classify Louna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 155 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Louna most popular?
The single biggest year for Louna was 2016, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Louna is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Louna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 334 people with the name Louna, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,416 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 Louna 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 Louna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Louna appears almost entirely female. Of the 332 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Louna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Louna is Black at 45.5%. The next largest groups are White (33.8%) and Hispanic (12.6%). 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 Louna most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Louna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.5% (152 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 Louna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Louna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Louna 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.
Is Louna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Louna 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 Louna 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 common is the name Louna?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Louna at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.