Lake
Lake is given to both girls and boys: 42 girls and 72 boys were given it in 2025 (#3,618 among girls’ names and #2,068 among boys’, #3,241 among all names counting both); 3,924 Americans have been recorded with it since 1891 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 3,320 Americans named Lake and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (85% of everyone recorded); the median is 14 years old and half are between 7 and 26.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Lake by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Lake mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Lake is “a unisex given name.”
Derived from the noun lake.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Lake?
#2,068 among boys’ names, 2025
Lake rose from #2,143 in 2015 to #2,068 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 33.9 to 42.2 per million.
154 babies in 2022, the peak
Lake peaked in 2022, when 154 babies were given it (99 boys, #1,713 among boys’ names). The 114 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 74% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 42 | #3,618 | 72 | #2,068 |
| 2024 | 36 | #4,082 | 105 | #1,627 |
| 2023 | 49 | #3,303 | 89 | #1,815 |
| 2022 | 55 | #3,014 | 99 | #1,713 |
| 2021 | 57 | #2,945 | 88 | #1,798 |
| 2020 | 59 | #2,804 | 79 | #1,883 |
| 2019 | 58 | #2,874 | 82 | #1,843 |
| 2018 | 50 | #3,226 | 69 | #2,073 |
| 2017 | 49 | #3,278 | 74 | #1,949 |
| 2016 | 44 | #3,558 | 63 | #2,181 |
Every recorded year (110)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 49 | #3,326 | 65 | #2,143 |
| 2014 | 40 | #3,815 | 52 | #2,446 |
| 2013 | 37 | #4,048 | 45 | #2,645 |
| 2012 | 22 | #6,018 | 53 | #2,404 |
| 2011 | 13 | #8,930 | 52 | #2,425 |
| 2010 | 16 | #7,735 | 65 | #2,085 |
| 2009 | 19 | #6,953 | 77 | #1,877 |
| 2008 | 10 | #11,252 | 67 | #2,080 |
| 2007 | 16 | #7,926 | 67 | #2,061 |
| 2006 | 10 | #11,066 | 73 | #1,866 |
| 2005 | 9 | #11,415 | 66 | #1,930 |
| 2004 | under 5 | 51 | #2,266 | |
| 2003 | 7 | #13,207 | 61 | #1,920 |
| 2002 | 9 | #10,697 | 62 | #1,837 |
| 2001 | 6 | #14,524 | 50 | #2,099 |
| 2000 | 6 | #14,141 | 55 | #1,904 |
| 1999 | 8 | #10,916 | 55 | #1,811 |
| 1998 | 11 | #8,307 | 77 | #1,459 |
| 1997 | 7 | #11,498 | 78 | #1,406 |
| 1996 | under 5 | 86 | #1,283 | |
| 1995 | 6 | #12,606 | 81 | #1,303 |
| 1994 | 9 | #9,242 | 39 | #2,097 |
| 1993 | under 5 | 29 | #2,542 | |
| 1992 | under 5 | 18 | #3,538 | |
| 1991 | under 5 | 24 | #2,785 | |
| 1990 | under 5 | 22 | #2,913 | |
| 1989 | under 5 | 13 | #4,169 | |
| 1988 | under 5 | 13 | #3,802 | |
| 1987 | under 5 | 15 | #3,276 | |
| 1986 | under 5 | 13 | #3,559 | |
| 1985 | under 5 | 14 | #3,314 | |
| 1984 | under 5 | 12 | #3,580 | |
| 1981 | under 5 | 8 | #4,763 | |
| 1980 | under 5 | 8 | #4,754 | |
| 1979 | under 5 | 6 | #5,760 | |
| 1978 | under 5 | 8 | #4,381 | |
| 1977 | under 5 | 6 | #5,528 | |
| 1976 | under 5 | 6 | #5,312 | |
| 1975 | under 5 | 7 | #4,582 | |
| 1974 | under 5 | 14 | #2,741 | |
| 1972 | under 5 | 7 | #4,235 | |
| 1971 | under 5 | 10 | #3,271 | |
| 1968 | under 5 | 5 | #4,463 | |
| 1966 | under 5 | 7 | #3,400 | |
| 1965 | under 5 | 7 | #3,415 | |
| 1964 | under 5 | 6 | #3,848 | |
| 1961 | under 5 | 6 | #3,865 | |
| 1960 | under 5 | 7 | #3,510 | |
| 1959 | under 5 | 9 | #2,950 | |
| 1957 | under 5 | 9 | #2,921 | |
| 1956 | under 5 | 6 | #3,748 | |
| 1953 | under 5 | 10 | #2,628 | |
| 1952 | under 5 | 7 | #3,243 | |
| 1951 | under 5 | 6 | #3,560 | |
| 1950 | under 5 | 13 | #2,158 | |
| 1949 | under 5 | 9 | #2,711 | |
| 1948 | under 5 | 6 | #3,501 | |
| 1947 | under 5 | 8 | #2,995 | |
| 1946 | under 5 | 12 | #2,212 | |
| 1945 | under 5 | 8 | #2,658 | |
| 1943 | under 5 | 5 | #3,810 | |
| 1942 | 5 | #4,992 | 7 | #3,084 |
| 1941 | under 5 | 6 | #3,332 | |
| 1940 | under 5 | 11 | #2,251 | |
| 1939 | under 5 | 13 | #2,011 | |
| 1937 | under 5 | 5 | #3,802 | |
| 1936 | under 5 | 9 | #2,541 | |
| 1935 | under 5 | 11 | #2,331 | |
| 1934 | under 5 | 9 | #2,664 | |
| 1933 | under 5 | 9 | #2,643 | |
| 1932 | under 5 | 8 | #2,985 | |
| 1931 | under 5 | 12 | #2,271 | |
| 1930 | under 5 | 15 | #2,018 | |
| 1929 | under 5 | 9 | #2,859 | |
| 1928 | under 5 | 14 | #2,214 | |
| 1927 | under 5 | 15 | #2,157 | |
| 1926 | 7 | #4,085 | 16 | #2,034 |
| 1925 | under 5 | 12 | #2,514 | |
| 1924 | under 5 | 10 | #2,932 | |
| 1923 | 7 | #4,178 | 15 | #2,178 |
| 1922 | 8 | #3,839 | 14 | #2,293 |
| 1921 | 12 | #2,859 | 15 | #2,216 |
| 1920 | 5 | #5,370 | 29 | #1,366 |
| 1919 | 10 | #3,112 | 22 | #1,602 |
| 1918 | 7 | #4,075 | 17 | #1,952 |
| 1917 | 8 | #3,523 | 16 | #1,944 |
| 1916 | 14 | #2,315 | 16 | #1,898 |
| 1915 | 8 | #3,282 | 12 | #2,245 |
| 1914 | 6 | #3,400 | 9 | #2,367 |
| 1912 | under 5 | 7 | #2,149 | |
| 1911 | under 5 | 7 | #1,472 | |
| 1910 | under 5 | 5 | #1,731 | |
| 1906 | 5 | #2,086 | under 5 | |
| 1905 | 5 | #2,085 | under 5 | |
| 1902 | 6 | #1,704 | under 5 | |
| 1899 | 5 | #1,725 | 5 | #1,139 |
| 1897 | 5 | #1,664 | under 5 | |
| 1893 | 5 | #1,533 | under 5 | |
| 1892 | under 5 | 6 | #1,024 | |
| 1891 | under 5 | 5 | #1,049 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Lake a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 3,924 Americans recorded as Lake, 24% are girls and 76% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Lake: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Lake, and how old are they?
3,320 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 85% of the 3,924 Americans ever recorded as Lake. The median Lake alive today is 14 years old; half are between 7 and 26.
The 2020 Census counted 2,760 people named Lake (653 women and girls, 2,107 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 2,584 born in the U.S. The Census count is 7% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 26 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 71 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 81 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 386 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 1,160 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,600 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Lake born?
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 9 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Texas | 8 | #2,012 | 0.5× |
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Lake with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 4,976 babies since 1880, Lake is the most given (79% of them). In 2025 it was given to 114 of their 179 babies (64%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Lake
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Lake and names like it
- Compare Lake and LakaiBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sLake peaked in 2022.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Lake since 1910.
- The top names of 2022The year the most babies were named Lake.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Lake alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with LMost given first.