How rare is the name Lydia?

139,560 people in the United States have the first name Lydia, about 1 in 2,164. It ranks #403 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

LYDIA

#403

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
139,560
About
1 in 2,164
This common or more
54.4%
Who bears it

Of the 139,560 people named Lydia, 59.2% reported their origin as White, 23.2% as Hispanic or Latino and 7.8% as Black. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Lydia peaked in 2014, when 3,652 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
2014
Births that year
3,652
In 2025*
2,692 ▼26%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 187,317 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Lydia by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1890s, when it ranked #118. The largest share of babies named Lydia, 22.3%, were born between 1997 and 2012, as Generation Z.

1880s#1253,902
1890s#1185,942
1900s#1675,247
1910s#2869,025
1920s#3749,303
1930s#4396,700
1940s#4169,215
1950s#40414,635
1960s#47811,737
1970s#5857,641
1980s#45511,122
1990s#36616,991
2000s#28326,441
2010s#21332,748
2020s#23716,668
Before 19015.6%
Greatest Generation 1901–2711.4%
Silent Generation 1928–457%
Baby boom 1946–6414%
Generation X 1965–807%
Millennials 1981–9611.2%
Generation Z 1997–1222.3%
2013 and later21.5%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Lydia is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Lydia has been most common in Utah (1.8×), Alaska (1.7×), and New Mexico (1.6×), and least common in Wyoming (0.55×).

169,288 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Lydia

#401 Jenna · 140,773#402 Ruby · 140,132#404 Sally · 139,332#405 Regina · 139,152

Spelled almost the same

5 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Lydia, most common first.

#8,580 Lyda · 1,686#16,275 Lydie · 696#26,023 Lydiah · 361#46,524 Lydea · 143#49,963 Lydya · 122

Also a last name

As a last name, Lydia ranks #61,001 of 156,621, with 356 people. See Lydia as a last name

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