Lew
Lew was given to 5 boys in 2025, #13,138 among boys’ names; 2,208 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Lew by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Lew mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Lew is “a diminutive of the male given name Lewis.”
/ljuː/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Lew?
#13,138 among boys’ names, 2025
Lew entered the boys’ rankings after 2015 and stood at #13,138 in 2025.
59 babies in 1957, the peak
Lew peaked in 1957, when 59 babies were given it (54 boys, #1,036 among boys’ names). The 5 births of 2025 are 8% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | #13,138 | under 0.01 |
| 2023 | 12 | #7,127 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 5 | #13,542 | under 0.01 |
| 2016 | 6 | #11,591 | under 0.01 |
| 1996 | 5 | #9,924 | under 0.01 |
| 1992 | 5 | #9,273 | under 0.01 |
| 1991 | 8 | #6,281 | under 0.01 |
| 1989 | 5 | #8,692 | under 0.01 |
| 1988 | 6 | #6,915 | under 0.01 |
| 1987 | 6 | #6,612 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (112)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | 10 | #4,328 | 0.01 |
| 1984 | 5 | #6,929 | under 0.01 |
| 1983 | 10 | #4,036 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 6 | #6,090 | under 0.01 |
| 1981 | 12 | #3,530 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 12 | #3,535 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 8 | #4,668 | under 0.01 |
| 1978 | 8 | #4,404 | under 0.01 |
| 1977 | 6 | #5,558 | under 0.01 |
| 1976 | 8 | #4,246 | 0.01 |
| 1975 | 10 | #3,572 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 7 | #4,437 | under 0.01 |
| 1973 | 11 | #3,143 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 12 | #2,934 | 0.01 |
| 1971 | 15 | #2,510 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 21 | #1,964 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 23 | #1,752 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 22 | #1,713 | 0.01 |
| 1967 | 20 | #1,792 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 11 | #2,560 | 0.01 |
| 1965 | 23 | #1,651 | 0.01 |
| 1964 | 18 | #1,944 | 0.01 |
| 1963 | 29 | #1,469 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 32 | #1,397 | 0.02 |
| 1961 | 34 | #1,378 | 0.02 |
| 1960 | 38 | #1,283 | 0.02 |
| 1959 | 55 | #1,040 | 0.03 |
| 1958 | 47 | #1,119 | 0.02 |
| 1957 | 54 | #1,036 | 0.03 |
| 1956 | 35 | #1,310 | 0.02 |
| 1955 | 35 | #1,285 | 0.02 |
| 1954 | 31 | #1,373 | 0.02 |
| 1953 | 37 | #1,234 | 0.02 |
| 1952 | 35 | #1,261 | 0.02 |
| 1951 | 32 | #1,319 | 0.02 |
| 1950 | 33 | #1,266 | 0.02 |
| 1949 | 26 | #1,449 | 0.01 |
| 1948 | 25 | #1,477 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 42 | #1,131 | 0.02 |
| 1946 | 36 | #1,171 | 0.02 |
| 1945 | 30 | #1,214 | 0.02 |
| 1944 | 28 | #1,277 | 0.02 |
| 1943 | 31 | #1,253 | 0.02 |
| 1942 | 27 | #1,344 | 0.02 |
| 1941 | 35 | #1,120 | 0.03 |
| 1940 | 33 | #1,172 | 0.03 |
| 1939 | 30 | #1,211 | 0.03 |
| 1938 | 31 | #1,189 | 0.03 |
| 1937 | 28 | #1,281 | 0.03 |
| 1936 | 30 | #1,215 | 0.03 |
| 1935 | 30 | #1,241 | 0.03 |
| 1934 | 31 | #1,204 | 0.03 |
| 1933 | 28 | #1,266 | 0.03 |
| 1932 | 31 | #1,225 | 0.03 |
| 1931 | 35 | #1,164 | 0.03 |
| 1930 | 26 | #1,448 | 0.02 |
| 1929 | 22 | #1,588 | 0.02 |
| 1928 | 15 | #2,114 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 22 | #1,675 | 0.02 |
| 1926 | 24 | #1,542 | 0.02 |
| 1925 | 34 | #1,241 | 0.03 |
| 1924 | 28 | #1,439 | 0.02 |
| 1923 | 25 | #1,528 | 0.02 |
| 1922 | 20 | #1,800 | 0.02 |
| 1921 | 29 | #1,404 | 0.03 |
| 1920 | 19 | #1,851 | 0.02 |
| 1919 | 14 | #2,208 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 32 | #1,248 | 0.03 |
| 1917 | 33 | #1,190 | 0.04 |
| 1916 | 29 | #1,255 | 0.03 |
| 1915 | 26 | #1,328 | 0.03 |
| 1914 | 20 | #1,372 | 0.03 |
| 1913 | 18 | #1,231 | 0.04 |
| 1912 | 21 | #1,013 | 0.05 |
| 1911 | 10 | #1,165 | 0.04 |
| 1910 | 9 | #1,170 | 0.05 |
| 1909 | 5 | #1,595 | 0.03 |
| 1908 | 17 | #647 | 0.11 |
| 1907 | 8 | #1,055 | 0.05 |
| 1905 | 5 | #1,339 | 0.04 |
| 1904 | 6 | #1,146 | 0.05 |
| 1903 | 5 | #1,225 | 0.04 |
| 1902 | 10 | #774 | 0.08 |
| 1901 | 6 | #1,008 | 0.06 |
| 1900 | 7 | #1,118 | 0.05 |
| 1896 | 11 | #705 | 0.09 |
| 1895 | 9 | #773 | 0.08 |
| 1894 | 9 | #763 | 0.08 |
| 1893 | 8 | #805 | 0.07 |
| 1892 | 11 | #662 | 0.09 |
| 1891 | 9 | #677 | 0.09 |
| 1890 | 9 | #708 | 0.08 |
| 1889 | 9 | #702 | 0.08 |
| 1888 | 9 | #732 | 0.07 |
| 1887 | 13 | #502 | 0.13 |
| 1886 | 7 | #811 | 0.06 |
| 1885 | 18 | #431 | 0.17 |
| 1884 | 15 | #499 | 0.13 |
| 1883 | 11 | #576 | 0.11 |
| 1882 | 16 | #461 | 0.14 |
| 1881 | 9 | #629 | 0.09 |
| 1880 | 20 | #389 | 0.18 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Lew a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Lew has been given almost only to boys: 15 girls in 112 years of records.
Girls and boys named Lew: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Lew, and how old are they?
An estimated 850 Americans named Lew and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (39% of everyone recorded); the median is 67 years old and half are between 57 and 74. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 1,401 people named Lew (81 women and girls, 1,320 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 987 born in the U.S. The Census count is 42% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census records the name people give, which for many is the short form Lew rather than the name on their birth record, and it counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out.
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).
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Lew
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 Lew and names like it
- Compare Lew and BurtBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sLew peaked in 1957.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Lew since 1910.
- The top names of 1957The year the most babies were named Lew.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Lew alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with LMost given first.