Lovel
A variant of the English word "love", derived from the Middle English "lofe/luve".
Name Census estimates that about 14 living Americans carry the first name Lovel. It is a predominantly male name (93.2% of registrations). The average person named Lovel today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lovel births was 1919 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lovel. 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 Lovel is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Lovels were born before 1970.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Lovel. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
14
~ 1 in 24,482,453 Americans
Peak year
1919
14 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
2000 SSA rank
#4,075
Tracked since 1914
Census
Lovel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 141 people with the first name Lovel, which placed it at #46,868 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
#46,868
National first-name rank
People counted
141
141 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
39.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lovel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lovel is White at 39.7%. The next largest groups are Black (37.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.6%). 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 Lovel 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 Lovel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White39.7% · 56
- Black or African American37.6% · 53
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.6% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino6.4% · 9
- Two or more races4.3% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Lovel
Lovel leans heavily male at 93.2% of total registrations, but 7 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Lovel as a male name
- Ranked #11,484 in 2000
- 5 male births in 2000
- Peak: 1921 (9 births)
Lovel as a female name
- Ranked #4,075 in 1919
- 7 female births in 1919
- Peak: 1919 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lovel on both sides of the split. Of the 140 people counted with this name, 99 were male (70.7%) and 41 were female (29.3%).
Popularity
Lovel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lovel from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 42 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
Lovel 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 Lovel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lovel
The given name Lovel has its origins in the Old French language, derived from the word "lou" meaning wolf. It emerged during the Middle Ages, around the 12th century, in regions of modern-day France and England, where French influence was prevalent.
One of the earliest recorded instances of Lovel as a first name can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners and properties commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Lovel" or "Lovell," referring to individuals residing in various parts of England.
In ancient texts, the name Lovel appears to have been associated with strength, bravery, and a connection to nature, particularly wolves. This symbolism may have stemmed from the wolf's reputation as a fierce and cunning predator in medieval folklore.
Notable historical figures who bore the name Lovel include Sir Walter Lovel, a prominent English nobleman and soldier who fought in the Wars of the Roses during the 15th century. Another significant figure was Francis Lovel, a 16th-century English philosopher and author known for his works on natural philosophy and mathematics.
In the realm of literature, the name Lovel makes an appearance in Geoffrey Chaucer's celebrated work, "The Canterbury Tales," written in the late 14th century. One of the characters, a squire, is referred to as "young Lovel" throughout the narrative.
During the 16th century, Sir Thomas Lovel, an English courtier and soldier, played a crucial role in the Battle of Stoke Field in 1487, which marked the end of the Wars of the Roses. He was a loyal supporter of the House of York and fought alongside the Yorkist forces.
In the 17th century, John Lovel, an English Catholic priest and writer, gained recognition for his works on religious topics, including his defense of the Catholic faith during the Reformation period.
Throughout history, the name Lovel has been associated with individuals from various walks of life, including nobility, military figures, scholars, and religious figures, reflecting its enduring presence and significance across different eras and cultures.
People
Lovel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lovel 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
Lovel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lovel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lovel 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 24,482,453 US residents.
Is Lovel a common name?
We classify Lovel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 34% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 103 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lovel most popular?
The single biggest year for Lovel was 1919, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lovel is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lovel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 141 people with the name Lovel, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,868 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 Lovel 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 Lovel?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lovel on both sides of the split. Of the 140 people counted with this name, 99 were male (70.7%) and 41 were female (29.3%). 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 Lovel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lovel is White at 39.7%. The next largest groups are Black (37.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.6%). 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 Lovel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lovel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.7% (56 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 Lovel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lovel a male name?
Yes, 93.2% of people registered as Lovel 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 Lovel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lovel 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 Lovel 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 are named Lovel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.