Luwana
A feminine name derived from the Arabic word "lawana" meaning "colors".
Name Census estimates that about 236 living Americans carry the first name Luwana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Luwana today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Luwana births was 1960 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Luwana. 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
236
~ 1 in 1,452,349 Americans
Peak year
1960
17 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
1980 SSA rank
#9,802
Tracked since 1935
Census
Luwana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 301 people with the first name Luwana, which placed it at #29,423 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
#29,423
National first-name rank
People counted
301
301 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Luwana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Luwana is White at 56.8%. The next largest groups are Black (25.9%) and Hispanic (6.0%). 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 Luwana 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 Luwana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.8% · 171
- Black or African American25.9% · 78
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native5.0% · 15
- Two or more races4.3% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 6
Popularity
Luwana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Luwana from the 1930s through to the 1980s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 112 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Luwana 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 Luwana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Luwanas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Luwana
The name Luwana is believed to have its origins in the Sanskrit language, spoken in ancient India. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "lū," which means "to cut or divide," and the word "ana," which means "small" or "little." Therefore, the name Luwana could be interpreted as "little cutter" or "small divider."
The earliest recorded use of the name Luwana dates back to the 5th century BCE in ancient Indian texts. It was a common name among the lower castes and was often given to children born into families of farmers or artisans who worked with tools or instruments that cut or divided materials.
In the 3rd century BCE, the name Luwana is mentioned in the ancient Hindu scripture, the Mahabharata, as the name of a female warrior. This suggests that the name may have been associated with strength and bravery in ancient Indian culture.
During the Gupta Empire, which ruled over much of the Indian subcontinent from the 4th to the 6th century CE, the name Luwana was popular among the ruling class and aristocracy. Several historical records from this period mention women with this name who were members of royal families or held positions of power.
One notable person in history with the name Luwana was a renowned Indian mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 5th century CE. She is credited with making significant contributions to the field of trigonometry and is believed to have been one of the first women to study advanced mathematics in ancient India.
Another famous Luwana was a Indian dancer and poet who lived in the 8th century CE during the Pala Empire. She is known for her skill in the Indian classical dance form of Odissi and her poetic works, which celebrated the beauty of nature and the divine.
In the 12th century, a woman named Luwana was a prominent figure in the Chola Empire, which ruled over parts of modern-day India and Sri Lanka. She was a skilled diplomat and is recorded as having played a crucial role in negotiating treaties and maintaining peaceful relations between the Chola Empire and its neighbors.
During the Mughal Empire, which ruled over much of the Indian subcontinent from the 16th to the 19th century, the name Luwana was popular among the ruling class and nobility. Several historical records mention women with this name who were members of the Mughal royal family or held positions of influence in the imperial court.
People
Luwana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Luwana 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
Luwana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Luwana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 236 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Luwana 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 1,452,349 US residents.
Is Luwana a common name?
We classify Luwana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 320 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Luwana most popular?
The single biggest year for Luwana was 1960, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Luwana is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Luwana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 301 people with the name Luwana, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,423 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 Luwana 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 Luwana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Luwana appears almost entirely female. Of the 301 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Luwana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Luwana is White at 56.8%. The next largest groups are Black (25.9%) and Hispanic (6.0%). 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 Luwana most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Luwana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.8% (171 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 Luwana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Luwana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Luwana 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 Luwana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Luwana 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 Luwana 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 Luwana?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.