Lunette
A French feminine name referring to a small, crescent-shaped window.
Name Census estimates that about 96 living Americans carry the first name Lunette. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lunette today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lunette births was 1919 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lunette. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Lunette. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
96
~ 1 in 3,570,358 Americans
Peak year
1919
15 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,692
Tracked since 1902
Census
Lunette in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 199 people with the first name Lunette, which placed it at #38,518 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
#38,518
National first-name rank
People counted
199
199 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lunette
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lunette is White at 48.2%. The next largest groups are Black (31.2%) and Hispanic (13.6%). 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 Lunette 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 Lunette at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.2% · 96
- Black or African American31.2% · 62
- Hispanic or Latino13.6% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 8
- Two or more races3.0% · 6
Popularity
Lunette: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lunette from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 91 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Lunette remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lunette 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 Lunette during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lunettes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Lunette
The name Lunette originates from the French language, derived from the diminutive form of "lune," meaning "moon." The name likely emerged during the Middle Ages, when many romantic names with celestial associations became popular in France.
Lunette was initially used as a term for a small, crescent-shaped opening in a wall or fortification, resembling the shape of a half-moon. This architectural feature was common in medieval castles and fortresses, serving as an arrow slit or ventilation opening.
One of the earliest known references to the name Lunette can be found in the 12th-century French romance "Le Conte du Graal" (The Story of the Grail) by Chrétien de Troyes. In this work, Lunette is a clever and resourceful chambermaid who aids in the love story between the knight Yvain and the lady Laudine.
During the Renaissance period, Lunette became a more widely used given name, particularly among the French nobility and upper classes. Notable historical figures with this name include Lunette de Bussy (c. 1540–1620), a French courtier and noblewoman who served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine de' Medici.
In the 17th century, Lunette de Clervaux (1626–1705) was a French Benedictine nun and abbess who played a significant role in reforming the monastic life of her order. She was known for her piety and devotion to religious education.
Another prominent figure was Lunette de Valentinay (c. 1660–1737), a French aristocrat and courtier who served as the Duchess of Valentinay and a lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Burgundy.
In the 18th century, Lunette de Montferrat (1711–1788) was an Italian noblewoman and philanthropist known for her charitable works and support of the arts and sciences.
During the 19th century, Lunette Viardot (1821–1910) was a French mezzo-soprano and composer who gained acclaim for her operatic performances and collaborations with renowned composers like Hector Berlioz and Gioachino Rossini.
While the name Lunette has never been widespread, it has maintained a niche presence throughout history, particularly in French-speaking regions, as a romantic and celestial-inspired moniker with literary and architectural associations.
People
Lunette + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lunette 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
Lunette: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lunette?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 96 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lunette 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 3,570,358 US residents.
Is Lunette a common name?
We classify Lunette as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 323 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lunette most popular?
The single biggest year for Lunette was 1919, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lunette is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lunette in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 199 people with the name Lunette, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,518 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 Lunette 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 Lunette?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lunette appears almost entirely female. Of the 194 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Lunette?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lunette is White at 48.2%. The next largest groups are Black (31.2%) and Hispanic (13.6%). 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 Lunette most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lunette in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.2% (96 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 Lunette in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lunette a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lunette 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 Lunette still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lunette 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 Lunette 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 are named Lunette?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Lunette at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.