Luverne
A unisex name with an Old German origin meaning "passionate friend".
Name Census estimates that about 226 living Americans carry the first name Luverne. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 55.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Luverne today is around 85 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Luverne births was 1924 (100 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Luverne. 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
- • Luverne sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
- • The typical person named Luverne is about 85 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Luvernes were born before 1951.
People living today
226
~ 1 in 1,516,612 Americans
Peak year
1924
100 babies that year
Average age
85
years old
1956 SSA rank
#3,785
Tracked since 1907
Census
Luverne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 407 people with the first name Luverne, which placed it at #23,894 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
#23,894
National first-name rank
People counted
407
407 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Luverne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Luverne is White at 83.0%. The next largest groups are Black (15.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%). 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 Luverne 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 Luverne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.0% · 338
- Black or African American15.2% · 62
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 4
- Two or more races0.5% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Luverne
Luverne is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 1,913 total registrations, 1,066 (55.7%) were male and 847 (44.3%) were female.
Luverne as a male name
- Ranked #3,785 in 1956
- 6 male births in 1956
- Peak: 1924 (65 births)
Luverne as a female name
- Ranked #5,961 in 1959
- 6 female births in 1959
- Peak: 1918 (53 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Luverne on both sides of the split. Of the 414 people counted with this name, 229 were male (55.3%) and 185 were female (44.7%).
Popularity
Luverne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Luverne from the 1900s through to the 1950s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 790 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Luverne 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 Luverne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Luvernes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota recorded the most babies named Luverne, while Wisconsin, North Dakota, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 189 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Luverne
The name Luverne has its origins in the French language and culture, with roots dating back to the 18th century. It is derived from the French words "lu" meaning "wolf" and "verne" meaning "alder tree," suggesting a connection to nature and the wilderness.
The earliest recorded use of the name Luverne can be traced back to France in the late 1700s. It initially gained popularity among the French aristocracy and upper classes before eventually spreading to other parts of Europe and eventually making its way to the United States.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Luverne was Luverne de Montclair, a French aristocrat and writer who lived from 1785 to 1842. His writings documented the social and political changes taking place in France during the turbulent times of the French Revolution.
In the 19th century, the name Luverne became more widely used, particularly in the United States. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Luverne Harnett (1832-1911), a prominent American artist known for her intricate still-life paintings and attention to detail.
Another notable Luverne was Luverne Putnam (1875-1952), an American educator and advocate for women's education. She served as the president of Wellesley College from 1925 to 1941 and played a significant role in shaping the institution's curriculum and educational philosophy.
In the 20th century, the name Luverne continued to be used, albeit less frequently. One individual who carried this name was Luverne Simmons (1920-2003), an American businessman and philanthropist who founded the Simmons Mattress Company and made significant contributions to various charitable organizations.
Lastly, Luverne Gustavson (1915-2011) was a notable American baseball player and coach. He played for the New York Yankees in the 1930s and later served as a coach and manager for several teams, including the Chicago Cubs and the San Francisco Giants.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the name Luverne, a name with a rich cultural heritage and connections to nature, reflecting the diverse tapestry of human experience and accomplishment.
People
Luverne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Luverne 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
Luverne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Luverne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 226 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Luverne 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 1,516,612 US residents.
Is Luverne a common name?
We classify Luverne as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,913 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Luverne most popular?
The single biggest year for Luverne was 1924, when 100 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Luverne is about 85 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Luverne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 407 people with the name Luverne, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,894 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 Luverne 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 Luverne?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Luverne on both sides of the split. Of the 414 people counted with this name, 229 were male (55.3%) and 185 were female (44.7%). 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 Luverne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Luverne is White at 83.0%. The next largest groups are Black (15.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.0%). 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 Luverne most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Luverne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.0% (338 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 Luverne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Luverne a male name?
Yes, 55.7% of people registered as Luverne 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 Luverne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Luverne 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 Luverne 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 Americans are named Luverne?
Want to know how many people have the name Luverne? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.