Lula
An English feminine given name of Portuguese origin meaning "little gem".
Name Census estimates that about 12,053 living Americans carry the first name Lula. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lula today is around 68 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lula births was 1924 (1,792 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lula. 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 Lula with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Lula is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 339 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Lula is about 68 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Lulas were born before 1968.
- • Compared to the 1920s, recent registration numbers for Lula have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 28,437 Americans
Peak year
1924
1,792 babies that year
Average age
68
years old
1949 SSA rank
#1,958
Tracked since 1880
Census
Lula in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 13,246 people with the first name Lula, which placed it at #2,051 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
#2,051
National first-name rank
People counted
13K
13,246 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
55.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lula
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lula is Black at 55.0%. The next largest groups are White (37.5%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Lula 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 Lula at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American55.0% · 7,280
- White37.5% · 4,972
- Two or more races2.8% · 372
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 312
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 270
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 40
Gender
Gender distribution for Lula
Out of the 85,485 babies given the name Lula since 1880, 99.6% 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.
Lula as a male name
- Ranked #4,021 in 1949
- 5 male births in 1949
- Peak: 1928 (18 births)
Lula as a female name
- Ranked #1,958 in 2024
- 101 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1921 (1,778 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lula appears almost entirely female. Of the 13,248 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Lula: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lula from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 16,425 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
Lula 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 Lula during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lulas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 40 states and territories. Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia recorded the most babies named Lula, while Vermont, Oregon, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,323 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lula
The name Lula is believed to have its origins in the Latin language, derived from the word "lullus," meaning "little one" or "small." It is also thought to be related to the Latin word "lullare," which means "to sing softly" or "to lull to sleep." This connection suggests that the name Lula may have been initially used as a term of endearment for young children or as a reference to a calming or soothing presence.
In the early days of Christianity, the name Lula was occasionally used as a diminutive form of the Latin name Lollia or Lolia. These names were derived from the Roman surname Lollius, which may have originated from the Latin word "lolium," meaning "darnel" or a type of weed found in wheat fields.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lula can be found in the medieval era, particularly in parts of Italy and Spain. In the 13th century, there are mentions of a woman named Lula de Toro, who was a noblewoman from the Kingdom of León in present-day Spain.
During the Renaissance period, the name Lula gained popularity in Italy, where it was used as a nickname or diminutive form of other names such as Luigia or Lucrezia. One notable figure from this time was Lula Grilli (1495-1565), an Italian painter and printmaker who specialized in religious subjects and was active in Rome.
In the 19th century, the name Lula became more widely used in the United States, particularly in the Southern states. One of the most famous bearers of this name was Lula Vollmer (1892-1955), an American playwright and screenwriter who was known for works such as "Sun-Up" and "The Shame Woman."
Another notable figure was Lula Hyers (1888-1944), an African American actress and vaudeville performer who was one of the first black women to headline on the Broadway stage. She was also known for her role in the 1920 film "Birthright."
In the world of literature, Lula Smedley (1858-1943) was an American novelist and short story writer who wrote under the pen name "Lula Ritchie." She was known for her works that depicted life in the American South.
While the name Lula has its origins in Latin and has been used throughout various periods in history, it has remained a relatively uncommon name in most parts of the world. However, its enduring presence and connections to notable figures across different eras and cultures have contributed to its unique charm and historical significance.
People
Lula + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lula 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
Lula: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lula?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,053 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lula 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 28,437 US residents.
Is Lula a common name?
We classify Lula as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 85,485 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lula most popular?
The single biggest year for Lula was 1924, when 1,792 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lula is about 68 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lula in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 13,246 people with the name Lula, or 4.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,051 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 Lula 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 Lula?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lula appears almost entirely female. Of the 13,248 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 Lula?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lula is Black at 55.0%. The next largest groups are White (37.5%) and Two or More Races (2.8%). 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 Lula most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Lula in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.0% (7,280 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 Lula in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lula a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Lula 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 Lula still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lula 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 Lula 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 Americans are named Lula?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.