Ly
A gender-neutral Vietnamese name derived from the Chinese surname Li.
Name Census estimates that about 380 living Americans carry the first name Ly. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 70.2% of registrations being female. The average person named Ly today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ly births was 1984 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ly. 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
380
~ 1 in 901,985 Americans
Peak year
1984
32 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2006 SSA rank
#13,249
Tracked since 1973
Gender
Gender distribution for Ly
Ly is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 399 total registrations, 119 (29.8%) were male and 280 (70.2%) were female.
Ly as a male name
- Ranked #13,249 in 2006
- 5 male births in 2006
- Peak: 1983 (13 births)
Ly as a female name
- Ranked #13,319 in 2008
- 8 female births in 2008
- Peak: 1984 (24 births)
Popularity
Ly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ly from the 1970s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 221 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ly 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 Ly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ly
The name Ly has its origins in the Vietnamese language and culture. It is a shortened form of the Vietnamese surname Ly, which was the family name of the Ly Dynasty that ruled Vietnam from 1009 to 1225 CE. The name is derived from the Vietnamese word "ly," which means "village" or "hamlet."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ly can be found in the Annals of the Ly Dynasty, a historical text that chronicles the reign of the Ly emperors. The Annals mention several prominent figures with the name Ly, including Ly Thai Tong (974-1028 CE), who was the founder of the Ly Dynasty and the first emperor of the Ly Dynasty.
Another notable figure with the name Ly was Ly Tu Trong (1630-1682 CE), a Vietnamese philosopher and poet who was known for his works on Confucianism and his contributions to Vietnamese literature. He is considered one of the most influential thinkers of his time in Vietnam.
In more recent history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Ly. One such person was Ly Tin Wheedhee (1925-2007 CE), a Thai architect and artist who was renowned for his contributions to modern Thai architecture and his work in promoting traditional Thai arts and crafts.
Another notable figure was Ly Thi Xuan (1915-1967 CE), a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician who played a significant role in the struggle for Vietnam's independence from French colonial rule. She was a member of the Indochinese Communist Party and served as the Minister of Finance in the Democratic Republic of Vietnam.
Ly Dai Tin (1931-2022 CE) was a Vietnamese-American engineer and businessman who was the founder and former chairman of Panda Express, one of the largest Asian-American fast-food chains in the United States.
While the name Ly has its roots in Vietnamese culture, it has also been adopted and used in other parts of the world, particularly in Southeast Asia and among the Vietnamese diaspora communities around the globe.
People
Ly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ly 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
Ly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 380 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ly 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 901,985 US residents.
Is Ly a common name?
We classify Ly as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 399 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ly most popular?
The single biggest year for Ly was 1984, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ly is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ly a female name?
Yes, 70.2% of people registered as Ly 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.