Lucky
Derived from the word "luck," signifying good fortune or favorable circumstances.
Name Census estimates that about 3,365 living Americans carry the first name Lucky. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 86.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Lucky today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lucky births was 2024 (111 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lucky. 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 Lucky with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.4K
~ 1 in 101,859 Americans
Peak year
2024
111 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,865
Tracked since 1912
Census
Lucky in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,841 people with the first name Lucky, which placed it at #4,731 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
#4,731
National first-name rank
People counted
3.8K
3,841 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
33.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lucky
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lucky is White at 33.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (31.3%) and Black (21.0%). 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 Lucky 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 Lucky at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White33.2% · 1,275
- Asian and Pacific Islander31.3% · 1,202
- Black or African American21.0% · 805
- Hispanic or Latino9.1% · 348
- Two or more races4.0% · 155
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 56
Gender
Gender distribution for Lucky
Lucky leans heavily male at 86.1% of total registrations, but 568 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Lucky as a male name
- Ranked #1,865 in 2024
- 86 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (86 births)
Lucky as a female name
- Ranked #5,218 in 2024
- 25 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (25 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lucky on both sides of the split. Of the 3,838 people counted with this name, 2,995 were male (78.0%) and 843 were female (22.0%).
Popularity
Lucky: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lucky from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 647 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Lucky remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lucky 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 Lucky during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Luckys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, Texas, Minnesota recorded the most babies named Lucky, while Washington, Illinois, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 78 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lucky
The name Lucky originates from the Middle English word "lucken," which means "to happen by chance or good fortune." Its roots can be traced back to the Old Norse word "lukka," meaning "luck" or "fortune." This name reflects a desire for a life filled with good luck and prosperity.
In ancient Greek mythology, there was a goddess named Tyche, who personified fortune, prosperity, and luck. While the name Lucky is not directly derived from this goddess's name, the concept of luck and fortune has been celebrated in various cultures throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Lucky dates back to the 16th century in England. A notable figure named Lucky Coulthurst was a prominent merchant and landowner in the city of York during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
In the 18th century, Lucky Rosenthal was a German-born businessman and philanthropist who made his fortune in the textile industry. He is remembered for his generous contributions to various charitable causes in his hometown of Frankfurt.
During the American Civil War, Lucky Jones was a Union Army soldier known for his bravery and resilience on the battlefield. Despite being wounded multiple times, he survived the war and went on to become a respected figure in his local community.
In the world of sports, Lucky Lakhani was an Indian cricketer who played for the national team in the 1950s and 1960s. He was renowned for his aggressive batting style and his ability to score runs quickly, earning him the nickname "Lucky."
Another notable figure with the name Lucky is Lucky Luciano, an Italian-American mobster who played a significant role in the development of organized crime in the United States during the early 20th century. Despite his criminal activities, his life and legacy have been the subject of numerous books and films.
While the name Lucky may not be as common today as it once was, it remains a unique and intriguing moniker that carries with it a sense of optimism and the hope for a fortunate life.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Lucky
People
Lucky + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lucky 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
Lucky: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lucky?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,365 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lucky 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 101,859 US residents.
Is Lucky a common name?
We classify Lucky as "Rare". It ranks above 95.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,081 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lucky most popular?
The single biggest year for Lucky was 2024, when 111 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lucky is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lucky in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,841 people with the name Lucky, or 1.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,731 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 Lucky 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 Lucky?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Lucky on both sides of the split. Of the 3,838 people counted with this name, 2,995 were male (78.0%) and 843 were female (22.0%). 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 Lucky?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lucky is White at 33.2%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (31.3%) and Black (21.0%). 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 Lucky most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lucky in the 2020 Census, accounting for 33.2% (1,275 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 Lucky in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lucky a male name?
Yes, 86.1% of people registered as Lucky 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 Lucky still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lucky 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 Lucky 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 share the name Lucky?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.