Lurdes
Of Spanish origin, derived from the name of the Marian sanctuary Our Lady of Lourdes.
Name Census estimates that about 383 living Americans carry the first name Lurdes. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lurdes today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lurdes births was 1977 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lurdes. 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
383
~ 1 in 894,920 Americans
Peak year
1977
17 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2011 SSA rank
#18,454
Tracked since 1953
Popularity
Lurdes: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lurdes from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 107 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lurdes 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 Lurdes during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lurdes' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Lurdes, while Texas, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 35 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lurdes
Lurdes is a Spanish feminine given name derived from the place name Lourdes, a small town in southwestern France near the Pyrenees mountains. The name ultimately traces its origins to the ancient Aquitanian language once spoken in the region before the Roman conquest. It is believed to be related to the word "lorda" or "lourde" which referred to a small stream or river flowing near the town.
In the year 1858, a young peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous reported visions of the Virgin Mary near a grotto in Lourdes. This led to the town becoming one of the most famous Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world. As a result, the name Lurdes (or Lourdes in French) grew in popularity as a feminine name among Catholics, particularly in Spain and other Spanish-speaking countries.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Lurdes can be found in the 16th century Spanish novel "La Lozana Andaluza" by Francisco Delicado, published in 1528. In the novel, a character named Lurdes is mentioned, indicating that the name was already in use at that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Lurdes. These include Lurdes de Campos (1910-1990), a Brazilian actress and singer; Lurdes Mutola (born 1972), a Mozambican track and field athlete who won multiple Olympic and World Championship gold medals in the 800 meters; Lurdes Fernández (born 1954), a Cuban poet and writer; and Lurdes Bergada (1957-2012), a Spanish writer and feminist activist.
Another famous bearer of the name was Lurdes Albuquerque (1912-1990), a Portuguese sculptor and ceramist known for her modernist works. She helped revive traditional Portuguese pottery techniques and was a leading figure in the country's artistic renaissance in the mid-20th century.
People
Lurdes + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lurdes 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
Lurdes: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lurdes?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 383 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lurdes 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 894,920 US residents.
Is Lurdes a common name?
We classify Lurdes as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 423 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lurdes most popular?
The single biggest year for Lurdes was 1977, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lurdes is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lurdes a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lurdes 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.