Lumen
A Latin name meaning "light" or "radiance".
Name Census estimates that about 499 living Americans carry the first name Lumen. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Lumen today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lumen births was 2018 (47 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lumen. 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.
People living today
499
~ 1 in 686,882 Americans
Peak year
2018
47 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,669
Tracked since 2011
Gender
Gender distribution for Lumen
Lumen leans heavily female at 88.8% of total registrations, but 56 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Lumen as a male name
- Ranked #6,669 in 2024
- 13 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (13 births)
Lumen as a female name
- Ranked #7,420 in 2024
- 15 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (43 births)
Popularity
Lumen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lumen from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 318 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Lumen remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lumen 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 Lumen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lumens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Wisconsin, Oregon recorded the most babies named Lumen, while Oregon, Wisconsin, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lumen
The name Lumen originates from the Latin word "lumen," which means "light" or "radiance." It has its roots in ancient Roman culture, where the concept of light held significant symbolism and was often associated with knowledge, truth, and enlightenment.
In ancient Roman texts, the word "lumen" was used metaphorically to refer to intellectual brilliance or a source of wisdom. It was a term of praise and admiration, signifying someone who could illuminate the minds of others with their understanding and insights.
The earliest recorded use of Lumen as a given name dates back to the 4th century AD. One notable figure who bore this name was Lumen of Vercelli, an Italian bishop and saint who lived from around 330 to 400 AD. He was renowned for his wisdom, humility, and dedication to serving the poor and underprivileged.
During the Middle Ages, the name Lumen was occasionally given to scholars and intellectuals, reflecting the association with enlightenment and learning. One such individual was Lumen de Insulis, a 12th-century French philosopher and theologian, known for his contributions to the study of logic and metaphysics.
In the Renaissance period, the name gained popularity among humanist scholars and artists who drew inspiration from classical Roman culture. Lumen Cravelli, an Italian painter and architect born in 1497, was a notable figure who embraced the Renaissance ideals of humanism and the pursuit of knowledge.
The name Lumen also has connections to religious symbolism, particularly in Christianity. In the Bible, the term "lumen" is used to represent the divine light of God, as well as the spiritual enlightenment and understanding that comes from following the path of righteousness.
One of the most famous individuals named Lumen in history was Lumen Picardo, a Spanish Catholic priest and missionary who lived from 1642 to 1720. He dedicated his life to spreading the Christian faith and establishing missions in South America, earning him a reputation as a tireless and selfless evangelist.
Other notable individuals bearing the name Lumen include Lumen Tancredo, an Italian philosopher and scholar of the 16th century, who wrote extensively on ethics and the nature of human reason, and Lumen Beltrami, an Italian mathematician and physicist of the 19th century, renowned for his contributions to the field of differential geometry.
People
Lumen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lumen 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
Lumen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lumen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 499 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lumen 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 686,882 US residents.
Is Lumen a common name?
We classify Lumen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 502 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lumen most popular?
The single biggest year for Lumen was 2018, when 47 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lumen is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lumen a female name?
Yes, 88.8% of people registered as Lumen 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.
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.