Luman
A given name derived from Latin meaning "light" or "shining".
Name Census estimates that about 14 living Americans carry the first name Luman. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Luman today is around 93 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Luman births was 1922 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Luman. 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 Luman is about 93 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Lumans were born before 1943.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Luman. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
14
~ 1 in 24,482,453 Americans
Peak year
1922
9 babies that year
Average age
93
years old
1942 SSA rank
#3,433
Tracked since 1913
Census
Luman in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 137 people with the first name Luman, which placed it at #47,543 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
#47,543
National first-name rank
People counted
137
137 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Luman
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Luman is White at 67.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.3%) and Black (8.0%). 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 Luman 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 Luman at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.9% · 93
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.3% · 21
- Black or African American8.0% · 11
- Two or more races4.4% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.9% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 2
Popularity
Luman: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Luman from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 56 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Luman remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Luman 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 Luman 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 Luman
The given name Luman is believed to have originated from the Latin language, derived from the word "lumen," which means light or illumination. This name was likely used during the Roman Empire and the early days of Christianity.
Luman was a relatively uncommon name in ancient times, but it did appear in some historical records and texts. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lumen was found in a 4th-century Christian manuscript, where it referred to a Roman soldier who converted to Christianity.
During the Middle Ages, the name Luman was occasionally used by European families, particularly those of French or Italian descent. It was sometimes given to children born on or around religious holidays associated with light, such as Christmas or the Feast of the Epiphany.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Luman was Luman Hamlin (1771-1853), an American Baptist minister and educator from Massachusetts. He served as the president of Colby College (then known as Waterville College) from 1828 to 1833.
Another historically significant figure was Luman Watson (1790-1834), an American lawyer and politician from New York. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1819 to 1833.
In the late 19th century, Luman Reed (1828-1904) gained recognition as an American entrepreneur and inventor. He is credited with developing and patenting several improvements to the sewing machine.
Luman Harris (1835-1917) was an American soldier and businessman from Ohio. He served in the Union Army during the American Civil War and later became a successful banker and real estate investor.
Luman Wilbur (1871-1943) was an American politician and lawyer from Oklahoma. He served as a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives and played a significant role in the state's early political landscape.
Throughout history, the name Luman has been relatively uncommon, but it has been carried by individuals from various backgrounds, including religious figures, politicians, inventors, and military personnel. While not a widely popular name, Luman has left a notable mark in various historical contexts.
People
Luman + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Luman 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
Luman: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Luman?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 14 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Luman 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 Luman a common name?
We classify Luman 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, 142 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Luman most popular?
The single biggest year for Luman was 1922, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Luman is about 93 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Luman in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 137 people with the name Luman, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,543 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 Luman 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 Luman?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Luman leans strongly male. 117 people counted with this name were male (86.7%), compared with 18 female bearers (13.3%). 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 Luman?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Luman is White at 67.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (15.3%) and Black (8.0%). 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 Luman most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Luman in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.9% (93 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 Luman in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Luman a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Luman 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 Luman still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Luman 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 Luman 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 Luman?
Want to know how many people share the name Luman? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.