Lyan
Middle English form of the name Lilian meaning "lily, pure".
Name Census estimates that about 685 living Americans carry the first name Lyan. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 84.3% of registrations being male. The average person named Lyan today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lyan births was 2021 (80 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lyan. 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
685
~ 1 in 500,371 Americans
Peak year
2021
80 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,767
Tracked since 1992
Gender
Gender distribution for Lyan
Lyan leans heavily male at 84.3% of total registrations, but 108 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Lyan as a male name
- Ranked #2,767 in 2024
- 47 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (75 births)
Lyan as a female name
- Ranked #10,885 in 2022
- 9 female births in 2022
- Peak: 2019 (9 births)
Popularity
Lyan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lyan from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 332 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lyan 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 Lyan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Lyans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Lyan, while Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 32 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Lyan
The name Lyan is believed to have originated in ancient Persia, now modern-day Iran, around the 6th century BCE. It is derived from the Persian word "lian," which means "bowl" or "vessel." The name may have been initially used to describe someone who crafted or sold ceramic bowls or vessels.
In the ancient Persian epic, the Shahnameh, written by the poet Ferdowsi in the late 10th century CE, there is a character named Lyan who was a skilled artisan and potter. This could be one of the earliest recorded instances of the name in literature.
During the Sassanid Empire in Persia (224-651 CE), the name Lyan gained popularity among the nobility and upper classes, who often commissioned intricate ceramic works from skilled potters and artisans.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Lyan was a Persian potter who lived in the city of Nishapur in the 9th century CE. His work was highly sought after and is still exhibited in museums around the world.
In the 12th century CE, Lyan al-Nishaburi was a renowned Persian mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the study of spherical trigonometry and celestial mechanics.
During the Timurid Dynasty in Persia (1370-1507 CE), Lyan Beg was a prominent military commander and governor who served under various Timurid rulers.
In the 16th century, Lyan al-Qazwini was a Persian scholar and author who wrote extensively on topics such as geography, history, and natural sciences.
In the late 19th century, Lyan Khan was a prominent Afghan political leader and military commander who played a significant role in the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880).
While the name Lyan is not as common today as it once was in ancient Persia, it remains a part of the cultural heritage and history of the region, reflecting the rich artistic and intellectual traditions of the Persian civilization.
People
Lyan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lyan 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
Lyan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lyan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 685 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lyan 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 500,371 US residents.
Is Lyan a common name?
We classify Lyan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 690 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lyan most popular?
The single biggest year for Lyan was 2021, when 80 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lyan is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Lyan a male name?
Yes, 84.3% of people registered as Lyan 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.
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.