Luverna
A feminine name derived from French, meaning "little beloved one".
Name Census estimates that about 2 living Americans carry the first name Luverna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Luverna today is around 107 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Luverna births was 1918 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Luverna. 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 Luverna is about 107 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Luvernas were born before 1929.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Luverna. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
2
~ 1 in 171,377,169 Americans
Peak year
1918
14 babies that year
Average age
107
years old
1930 SSA rank
#3,228
Tracked since 1889
Popularity
Luverna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Luverna from the 1880s through to the 1930s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 62 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Luverna 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 Luverna 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 Luverna
The name Luverna is believed to have originated from the Latin word "Laverna," which was the name of the ancient Roman goddess of thieves and tricksters. The name was later adopted and adapted by various cultures, resulting in different spellings and variations.
In the Middle Ages, the name Luverna became popular among Christians in certain regions of Europe, particularly in Spain and Italy. It was sometimes used as a feminine form of the name Laverne, which was derived from the Latin name Lavernius.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Luverna can be found in the 14th century, when it was mentioned in the writings of the Italian poet Petrarch. However, it is unclear whether Petrarch was referring to an actual person or using the name symbolically.
Throughout history, there have been a few notable individuals who bore the name Luverna. One of the earliest recorded was Luverna Buchanan (1832-1912), an American educator and activist who was involved in the women's suffrage movement.
Another notable Luverna was Luverna Holloway (1886-1976), an American politician who served as the Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota from 1939 to 1945. She was one of the first women to hold such a high-ranking political office in the United States.
In the literary world, Luverna was the name of a character in the novel "The Petrified Forest" by Robert E. Sherwood, published in 1935. The character was a young woman from a small town in Arizona.
Luverna Elmore (1893-1971) was an American artist and illustrator who was known for her watercolor paintings and illustrations for children's books in the early 20th century.
Lastly, Luverna Cunnings (1920-2002) was a Canadian author and journalist who wrote several books on the history and culture of the Canadian Maritimes.
While the name Luverna is not as common today as it once was, it has a rich history and has been borne by notable individuals across various fields throughout the centuries.
People
Luverna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Luverna 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
Luverna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Luverna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Luverna 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 171,377,169 US residents.
Is Luverna a common name?
We classify Luverna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 4.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 127 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Luverna most popular?
The single biggest year for Luverna was 1918, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Luverna is about 107 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Luverna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Luverna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Luverna 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 Luverna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Luverna 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 Luverna 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Luverna?
Find out how many Americans are named Luverna on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.