How Many People Are Named Lou?
An estimated 15,873 people in the United States have the first name Lou. It is used for both genders, with 89.5% female. The average bearer is 65 years old, and Lou peaked in popularity in 1954 with 1,547 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Lou 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 Lou paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
15,873
About 1 in 21,594 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
89.5% confidence
Average Age
65
years old
Peak Year
1954
1,547 births
Total Registered
38,049
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Lou
Lou is predominantly female (89.5%), though 4,006 male births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Lou as a male name
Ranked #2,118 in 2024
70 male births in 2024
Peak: 2022 (74 births)
Lou as a female name
Ranked #2,541 in 2024
70 female births in 2024
Peak: 1954 (1,495 births)
Lou: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Lou span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 9,597 babies were registered. Lou has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Lou by Decade
How has Lou 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.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,483 | 119 | 1,364 | |
| 1890s | 1,386 | 103 | 1,283 | |
| 1900s | 1,345 | 84 | 1,261 | |
| 1910s | 2,821 | 271 | 2,550 | |
| 1920s | 4,282 | 352 | 3,930 | |
| 1930s | 5,498 | 333 | 5,165 | |
| 1940s | 5,149 | 427 | 4,722 | |
| 1950s | 9,597 | 513 | 9,084 | |
| 1960s | 3,450 | 413 | 3,037 | |
| 1970s | 1,026 | 259 | 767 | |
| 1980s | 344 | 167 | 177 | |
| 1990s | 226 | 161 | 65 | |
| 2000s | 244 | 159 | 85 | |
| 2010s | 563 | 308 | 255 | |
| 2020s | 635 | 337 | 298 | |
Lou by State
Birth registrations for Lou span all 47 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, North Carolina, Kentucky. The lowest are in Hawaii, Alaska, Rhode Island. On average, about 586 Lous were registered per state.
Lou + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Lou as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Lou
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
Lou: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lou?
We estimate approximately 15,873 people named Lou 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 21,594 Americans share this first name.
Is Lou a common name?
Lou is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.3% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 38,049 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Lou most popular?
Lou reached peak popularity in 1954, when 1,547 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Lou is approximately 65 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Lou a female name?
Lou is predominantly female. 89.5% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Lou Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Lou Smith, Lou Johnson, Lou 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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