Lionel
Lionel was given to 419 boys in 2025, #659 among boys’ names; 33,833 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 21,800 Americans named Lionel and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (64% of everyone recorded); the median is 41 years old and half are between 13 and 62.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Lionel by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Lionel mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Lionel is “a male given name from Latin of mostly British usage.” Its etymology gives the sense “lion” (Leo).
A Middle English diminutive of French Léon, Latin Leo (“lion”), or of the Middle English nickname Lion + -el (diminutive suffix).
/ˈlaɪənl/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Lionel?
#659 among boys’ names, 2025
Lionel fell from #645 in 2015 to #659 in 2025 among boys’ names, although its share of boys born rose from 0.21 to 0.25 per 1,000.
609 babies in 2023, the peak
Lionel peaked in 2023, when 609 boys were given it, #495 among boys’ names. The 419 births of 2025 are 69% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 419 | #659 | 0.25 |
| 2024 | 529 | #562 | 0.31 |
| 2023 | 609 | #495 | 0.36 |
| 2022 | 450 | #622 | 0.26 |
| 2021 | 410 | #662 | 0.23 |
| 2020 | 398 | #662 | 0.23 |
| 2019 | 428 | #631 | 0.24 |
| 2018 | 418 | #634 | 0.23 |
| 2017 | 458 | #596 | 0.25 |
| 2016 | 475 | #583 | 0.25 |
Every recorded year (145)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 405 | #645 | 0.21 |
| 2014 | 388 | #663 | 0.20 |
| 2013 | 317 | #739 | 0.17 |
| 2012 | 275 | #809 | 0.14 |
| 2011 | 282 | #791 | 0.15 |
| 2010 | 228 | #899 | 0.12 |
| 2009 | 173 | #1,075 | 0.09 |
| 2008 | 161 | #1,135 | 0.08 |
| 2007 | 151 | #1,174 | 0.07 |
| 2006 | 137 | #1,226 | 0.07 |
| 2005 | 144 | #1,134 | 0.07 |
| 2004 | 122 | #1,240 | 0.06 |
| 2003 | 128 | #1,169 | 0.06 |
| 2002 | 122 | #1,162 | 0.06 |
| 2001 | 154 | #992 | 0.08 |
| 2000 | 148 | #1,000 | 0.08 |
| 1999 | 136 | #1,021 | 0.07 |
| 1998 | 157 | #914 | 0.08 |
| 1997 | 121 | #1,052 | 0.06 |
| 1996 | 130 | #973 | 0.07 |
| 1995 | 169 | #821 | 0.09 |
| 1994 | 160 | #845 | 0.08 |
| 1993 | 204 | #728 | 0.10 |
| 1992 | 191 | #745 | 0.10 |
| 1991 | 205 | #705 | 0.10 |
| 1990 | 231 | #664 | 0.11 |
| 1989 | 265 | #600 | 0.13 |
| 1988 | 251 | #585 | 0.13 |
| 1987 | 310 | #509 | 0.17 |
| 1986 | 327 | #484 | 0.18 |
| 1985 | 401 | #428 | 0.22 |
| 1984 | 443 | #387 | 0.25 |
| 1983 | 420 | #396 | 0.23 |
| 1982 | 354 | #455 | 0.20 |
| 1981 | 293 | #488 | 0.16 |
| 1980 | 304 | #483 | 0.17 |
| 1979 | 243 | #549 | 0.14 |
| 1978 | 249 | #521 | 0.15 |
| 1977 | 251 | #529 | 0.15 |
| 1976 | 266 | #487 | 0.17 |
| 1975 | 252 | #504 | 0.16 |
| 1974 | 212 | #553 | 0.13 |
| 1973 | 239 | #505 | 0.15 |
| 1972 | 215 | #542 | 0.13 |
| 1971 | 260 | #504 | 0.15 |
| 1970 | 239 | #522 | 0.13 |
| 1969 | 283 | #456 | 0.16 |
| 1968 | 266 | #466 | 0.15 |
| 1967 | 292 | #442 | 0.17 |
| 1966 | 292 | #449 | 0.16 |
| 1965 | 290 | #455 | 0.16 |
| 1964 | 368 | #421 | 0.18 |
| 1963 | 382 | #412 | 0.19 |
| 1962 | 405 | #402 | 0.20 |
| 1961 | 420 | #389 | 0.20 |
| 1960 | 468 | #364 | 0.22 |
| 1959 | 416 | #388 | 0.19 |
| 1958 | 360 | #413 | 0.17 |
| 1957 | 336 | #424 | 0.16 |
| 1956 | 410 | #364 | 0.19 |
| 1955 | 323 | #407 | 0.16 |
| 1954 | 359 | #371 | 0.18 |
| 1953 | 385 | #353 | 0.20 |
| 1952 | 340 | #365 | 0.17 |
| 1951 | 340 | #370 | 0.18 |
| 1950 | 363 | #354 | 0.20 |
| 1949 | 336 | #370 | 0.19 |
| 1948 | 339 | #368 | 0.19 |
| 1947 | 349 | #371 | 0.19 |
| 1946 | 329 | #360 | 0.20 |
| 1945 | 306 | #345 | 0.23 |
| 1944 | 303 | #344 | 0.22 |
| 1943 | 284 | #364 | 0.20 |
| 1942 | 274 | #367 | 0.20 |
| 1941 | 287 | #342 | 0.23 |
| 1940 | 260 | #352 | 0.22 |
| 1939 | 277 | #334 | 0.25 |
| 1938 | 280 | #333 | 0.25 |
| 1937 | 247 | #345 | 0.23 |
| 1936 | 291 | #315 | 0.28 |
| 1935 | 281 | #325 | 0.27 |
| 1934 | 336 | #295 | 0.33 |
| 1933 | 321 | #295 | 0.32 |
| 1932 | 311 | #310 | 0.30 |
| 1931 | 290 | #321 | 0.28 |
| 1930 | 281 | #330 | 0.26 |
| 1929 | 265 | #344 | 0.25 |
| 1928 | 297 | #326 | 0.27 |
| 1927 | 319 | #322 | 0.28 |
| 1926 | 294 | #339 | 0.26 |
| 1925 | 309 | #328 | 0.28 |
| 1924 | 325 | #322 | 0.29 |
| 1923 | 329 | #320 | 0.30 |
| 1922 | 302 | #338 | 0.28 |
| 1921 | 334 | #319 | 0.30 |
| 1920 | 272 | #363 | 0.26 |
| 1919 | 253 | #362 | 0.26 |
| 1918 | 266 | #356 | 0.26 |
| 1917 | 255 | #350 | 0.28 |
| 1916 | 205 | #385 | 0.23 |
| 1915 | 224 | #359 | 0.26 |
| 1914 | 168 | #365 | 0.26 |
| 1913 | 129 | #368 | 0.25 |
| 1912 | 119 | #346 | 0.28 |
| 1911 | 74 | #315 | 0.33 |
| 1910 | 33 | #489 | 0.17 |
| 1909 | 34 | #430 | 0.21 |
| 1908 | 30 | #445 | 0.19 |
| 1907 | 30 | #425 | 0.20 |
| 1906 | 27 | #428 | 0.20 |
| 1905 | 25 | #443 | 0.19 |
| 1904 | 20 | #484 | 0.16 |
| 1903 | 30 | #355 | 0.25 |
| 1902 | 19 | #498 | 0.15 |
| 1901 | 20 | #431 | 0.19 |
| 1900 | 26 | #451 | 0.17 |
| 1899 | 18 | #447 | 0.17 |
| 1898 | 21 | #446 | 0.17 |
| 1897 | 19 | #448 | 0.17 |
| 1896 | 20 | #453 | 0.17 |
| 1895 | 19 | #466 | 0.16 |
| 1894 | 20 | #431 | 0.17 |
| 1893 | 19 | #425 | 0.17 |
| 1892 | 9 | #775 | 0.07 |
| 1891 | 17 | #438 | 0.17 |
| 1890 | 14 | #523 | 0.13 |
| 1889 | 9 | #703 | 0.08 |
| 1888 | 9 | #733 | 0.07 |
| 1887 | 13 | #503 | 0.13 |
| 1886 | 11 | #588 | 0.10 |
| 1885 | 5 | #1,027 | 0.05 |
| 1884 | 6 | #925 | 0.05 |
| 1883 | 7 | #770 | 0.07 |
| 1882 | 5 | #1,028 | 0.04 |
| 1880 | 8 | #718 | 0.07 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Lionel a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Lionel has been given almost only to boys: 44 girls in 145 years of records.
Girls and boys named Lionel: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Lionel, and how old are they?
21,800 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 64% of the 33,833 Americans ever recorded as Lionel. The median Lionel alive today is 41 years old; half are between 13 and 62.
The 2020 Census counted 20,014 people named Lionel (54 women and girls, 19,960 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 20,771 born in the U.S. The Census count is 4% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 998 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 4,690 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 3,660 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 4,150 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 2,600 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 5,660 |
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 Lionel born?
The states with the most babies named Lionel are California, Texas and Illinois, with 47% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 88 | #381 | 1.2× |
| Texas | 61 | #537 | 1.4× |
| Illinois | 24 | #455 | 0.9× |
| New York | 16 | #872 | 1.0× |
| Florida | 16 | #903 | 0.9× |
| New Jersey | 16 | #478 | 0.5× |
| Arizona | 14 | #513 | 1.2× |
| North Carolina | 14 | #667 | 0.5× |
| Michigan | 9 | #809 | 0.6× |
| Pennsylvania | 9 | #891 | 0.4× |
Where Lionel is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Lionel is most over-represented in Louisiana: since 1910 it was given 6.8 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
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 Lionel 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 35,803 babies since 1880, Lionel is the most given (94% of them). In 2025 it was given to 419 of their 431 babies (97%), 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 Lionel
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 Lionel and names like it
- Compare Lionel and LionellBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2020sLionel peaked in 2023.
- Louisiana’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Lionel since 1910.
- Latin namesWiktionary’s origin for Lionel: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 2023The year the most babies were named Lionel.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Lionel alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with LMost given first.