Lucile
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "light" or "luminous".
Name Census estimates that about 2,935 living Americans carry the first name Lucile. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lucile today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lucile births was 1917 (1,516 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lucile. 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 Lucile with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Lucile is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 96 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1910s, recent registration numbers for Lucile have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
2.9K
~ 1 in 116,782 Americans
Peak year
1917
1,516 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1936 SSA rank
#3,859
Tracked since 1880
Census
Lucile in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,453 people with the first name Lucile, which placed it at #5,090 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
#5,090
National first-name rank
People counted
3.5K
3,453 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lucile
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lucile is White at 69.3%. The next largest groups are Black (21.3%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Lucile 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 Lucile at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.3% · 2,393
- Black or African American21.3% · 737
- Hispanic or Latino4.7% · 162
- Two or more races2.7% · 94
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 50
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 17
Gender
Gender distribution for Lucile
Out of the 34,956 babies given the name Lucile since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Lucile as a male name
- Ranked #3,859 in 1936
- 5 male births in 1936
- Peak: 1923 (9 births)
Lucile as a female name
- Ranked #4,420 in 2024
- 32 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1917 (1,516 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lucile appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,459 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Lucile: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lucile 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 11,778 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
Lucile 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 Lucile during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Luciles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 45 states and territories. Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Lucile, while Wyoming, New Hampshire, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 539 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lucile
The name Lucile has its origins in the Latin language, stemming from the Latin word "lucis," which means "light." This name gained popularity during the Middle Ages and was particularly prevalent in France and other parts of Europe.
The earliest recorded use of the name Lucile dates back to the 12th century, when it appeared in various medieval texts and records. During this time, the name was often spelled as "Lucille" or "Lucilia," reflecting the variations in spelling and pronunciation that were common in that era.
One of the earliest notable figures to bear the name Lucile was Lucile of Navarre, a French noblewoman who lived in the 13th century. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of the Franciscan order.
In literature, the name Lucile is featured in the epic poem "Lucile" by Robert Bulwer-Lytton, published in 1860. The poem tells the story of a young woman named Lucile who finds herself caught in a tragic love triangle.
Another prominent figure with the name Lucile was Lucile Grahn, a Swedish ballet dancer who lived from 1819 to 1907. She was renowned for her performances in various European cities and was considered one of the greatest dancers of her time.
In the realm of science, Lucile Rand was an American botanist and educator who lived from 1868 to 1951. She made significant contributions to the study of plant anatomy and was a pioneer in the field of botanical education.
Lucile Caudell, born in 1898 and lived until 1963, was an American labor activist and feminist. She played a crucial role in organizing textile workers and advocating for better working conditions and labor rights.
Lucile Watson, an American actress born in 1879 and passed away in 1962, had a successful career on stage and in films. She is particularly remembered for her roles in several films directed by the legendary Alfred Hitchcock.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Lucile, showcasing its enduring presence across various fields and cultures.
People
Lucile + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lucile 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
Lucile: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lucile?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,935 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lucile 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 116,782 US residents.
Is Lucile a common name?
We classify Lucile as "Rare". It ranks above 95.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 34,956 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lucile most popular?
The single biggest year for Lucile was 1917, when 1,516 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lucile is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lucile in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,453 people with the name Lucile, or 1.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,090 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 Lucile 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 Lucile?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lucile appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,459 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Lucile?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lucile is White at 69.3%. The next largest groups are Black (21.3%) and Hispanic (4.7%). 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 Lucile most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lucile in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.3% (2,393 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 Lucile in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lucile a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Lucile 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 Lucile still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lucile 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 Lucile 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 Lucile as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.