How Many People Are Named Lai?
An estimated 241 people in the United States have the first name Lai. It is predominantly female (90.2%). The average bearer is 39 years old, and Lai peaked in popularity in 1981 with 21 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Lai as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Lai paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
241
About 1 in 1,422,217 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Very Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
90.2% confidence
Average Age
39
years old
Peak Year
1981
21 births
Total Registered
256
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Lai
Lai is predominantly female (90.2%), though 25 male births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Lai as a male name
Ranked #6,271 in 1991
8 male births in 1991
Peak: 1981 (10 births)
Lai as a female name
Ranked #15,558 in 2015
6 female births in 2015
Peak: 1984 (17 births)
Lai: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Lai span from the 1950s to the 2010s, covering 7 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1980s, when 111 babies were registered. Lai has declined significantly from its peak in the 1980s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Lai by Decade
How has Lai tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Lai by State
Lai + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Lai as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Lai
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
Lai: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lai?
We estimate approximately 241 people named Lai are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 1,422,217 Americans share this first name.
Is Lai a common name?
Lai is classified as "Very Rare" and is more popular than 76.6% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 256 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Lai most popular?
Lai reached peak popularity in 1981, when 21 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Lai is approximately 39 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Lai a female name?
Lai is predominantly female. 90.2% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Lai Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Lai Smith, Lai Johnson, Lai Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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