Recorded 1880–2025 · United States
Lou was most popular in 1954, when 1,547 American babies were given the name — ranking #374 that year. In 2025 it ranked #2,747, with 146 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 38,198 people named Lou.
The Social Security Administration’s records begin in 1880, and Lou is already there in that first year — so the name is older than the record and these figures cannot date it. It has been recorded in 146 of the 146 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 38,198 American births named Lou between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 18,290 are estimated to be alive today.
146 American babies were named Lou in 2025, ranking #2,747 that year.
Lou is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 137 births a year, against 47 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +192% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Lou is mostly a girl’s name — 89.3% of the 38,198 Americans given it were girls and 10.7% were boys. It changed hands: since 2025 it has gone mainly to boys, having gone mainly to girls before that. In births since 2016 it is 47% girls and 53% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 18,290 Americans named Lou are alive today — 48% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 70 years old, and half are between 63 and 76.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Lou on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org