Lowell
Lowell was given to 36 boys in 2025, #3,280 among boys’ names; 41,677 Americans have been recorded with it since 1881 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 14,200 Americans named Lowell and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (34% of everyone recorded); the median is 68 years old and half are between 55 and 79.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Lowell by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Lowell mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Lowell is “a male given name transferred from the surname.” Its etymology gives the sense “little wolf” (meaning).
A Middle English diminutive of Old French lou + -el (diminutive suffix), meaning “little wolf”. Akin to Wolfie.
/ˈləʊ.əl/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Lowell?
#3,280 among boys’ names, 2025
Lowell fell from #2,666 in 2015 to #3,280 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born fell from 24.0 to 21.1 per million.
1,100 babies in 1931, the peak
Lowell peaked in 1931, when 1,100 babies were given it (1,090 boys, #147 among boys’ names). The 36 births of 2025 are 3% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 36 | #3,280 | 0.02 |
| 2024 | 30 | #3,751 | 0.02 |
| 2023 | 31 | #3,678 | 0.02 |
| 2022 | 39 | #3,136 | 0.02 |
| 2021 | 43 | #2,893 | 0.02 |
| 2020 | 38 | #3,056 | 0.02 |
| 2019 | 42 | #2,920 | 0.02 |
| 2018 | 43 | #2,826 | 0.02 |
| 2017 | 37 | #3,167 | 0.02 |
| 2016 | 42 | #2,866 | 0.02 |
Every recorded year (144)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 46 | #2,666 | 0.02 |
| 2014 | 38 | #3,018 | 0.02 |
| 2013 | 38 | #2,978 | 0.02 |
| 2012 | 46 | #2,657 | 0.02 |
| 2011 | 29 | #3,662 | 0.02 |
| 2010 | 28 | #3,768 | 0.01 |
| 2009 | 40 | #2,974 | 0.02 |
| 2008 | 40 | #2,985 | 0.02 |
| 2007 | 39 | #3,002 | 0.02 |
| 2006 | 38 | #2,957 | 0.02 |
| 2005 | 37 | #2,877 | 0.02 |
| 2004 | 32 | #3,123 | 0.02 |
| 2003 | 38 | #2,656 | 0.02 |
| 2002 | 33 | #2,856 | 0.02 |
| 2001 | 30 | #3,029 | 0.02 |
| 2000 | 55 | #1,905 | 0.03 |
| 1999 | 59 | #1,740 | 0.03 |
| 1998 | 49 | #1,976 | 0.03 |
| 1997 | 50 | #1,872 | 0.03 |
| 1996 | 59 | #1,647 | 0.03 |
| 1995 | 65 | #1,480 | 0.03 |
| 1994 | 50 | #1,758 | 0.03 |
| 1993 | 70 | #1,385 | 0.04 |
| 1992 | 81 | #1,257 | 0.04 |
| 1991 | 86 | #1,193 | 0.04 |
| 1990 | 100 | #1,059 | 0.05 |
| 1989 | 96 | #1,065 | 0.05 |
| 1988 | 92 | #1,026 | 0.05 |
| 1987 | 83 | #1,049 | 0.04 |
| 1986 | 95 | #941 | 0.05 |
| 1985 | 102 | #898 | 0.06 |
| 1984 | 97 | #889 | 0.05 |
| 1983 | 90 | #934 | 0.05 |
| 1982 | 123 | #800 | 0.07 |
| 1981 | 102 | #884 | 0.06 |
| 1980 | 108 | #855 | 0.06 |
| 1979 | 130 | #762 | 0.08 |
| 1978 | 118 | #777 | 0.07 |
| 1977 | 124 | #765 | 0.08 |
| 1976 | 145 | #692 | 0.09 |
| 1975 | 130 | #728 | 0.08 |
| 1974 | 128 | #725 | 0.08 |
| 1973 | 155 | #640 | 0.10 |
| 1972 | 152 | #647 | 0.09 |
| 1971 | 212 | #556 | 0.12 |
| 1970 | 238 | #523 | 0.13 |
| 1969 | 234 | #508 | 0.13 |
| 1968 | 299 | #442 | 0.17 |
| 1967 | 272 | #459 | 0.16 |
| 1966 | 292 | #450 | 0.16 |
| 1965 | 323 | #430 | 0.17 |
| 1964 | 353 | #427 | 0.18 |
| 1963 | 358 | #426 | 0.18 |
| 1962 | 419 | #395 | 0.20 |
| 1961 | 393 | #400 | 0.19 |
| 1960 | 431 | #381 | 0.20 |
| 1959 | 453 | #369 | 0.21 |
| 1958 | 449 | #364 | 0.21 |
| 1957 | 449 | #360 | 0.21 |
| 1956 | 507 | #329 | 0.24 |
| 1955 | 470 | #339 | 0.23 |
| 1954 | 471 | #332 | 0.23 |
| 1953 | 491 | #317 | 0.25 |
| 1952 | 488 | #320 | 0.25 |
| 1951 | 566 | #287 | 0.30 |
| 1950 | 572 | #276 | 0.32 |
| 1949 | 636 | #256 | 0.36 |
| 1948 | 623 | #260 | 0.36 |
| 1947 | 670 | #256 | 0.37 |
| 1946 | 650 | #239 | 0.40 |
| 1945 | 603 | #223 | 0.45 |
| 1944 | 720 | #206 | 0.53 |
| 1943 | 806 | #200 | 0.56 |
| 1942 | 885 | #178 | 0.64 |
| 1941 | 865 | #176 | 0.70 |
| 1940 | 870 | #172 | 0.75 |
| 1939 | 924 | #166 | 0.83 |
| 1938 | 966 | #164 | 0.87 |
| 1937 | 982 | #155 | 0.92 |
| 1936 | 1,022 | #150 | 1.0 |
| 1935 | 994 | #152 | 1.0 |
| 1934 | 1,033 | #148 | 1.0 |
| 1933 | 880 | #161 | 0.89 |
| 1932 | 1,047 | #150 | 1.0 |
| 1931 | 1,090 | #147 | 1.0 |
| 1930 | 721 | #191 | 0.66 |
| 1929 | 700 | #193 | 0.65 |
| 1928 | 758 | #188 | 0.68 |
| 1927 | 757 | #193 | 0.67 |
| 1926 | 725 | #195 | 0.65 |
| 1925 | 709 | #196 | 0.64 |
| 1924 | 819 | #175 | 0.72 |
| 1923 | 710 | #194 | 0.65 |
| 1922 | 698 | #197 | 0.64 |
| 1921 | 690 | #199 | 0.63 |
| 1920 | 670 | #198 | 0.63 |
| 1919 | 608 | #204 | 0.62 |
| 1918 | 555 | #225 | 0.55 |
| 1917 | 551 | #205 | 0.60 |
| 1916 | 529 | #208 | 0.59 |
| 1915 | 536 | #201 | 0.63 |
| 1914 | 390 | #209 | 0.60 |
| 1913 | 322 | #207 | 0.63 |
| 1912 | 225 | #231 | 0.52 |
| 1911 | 104 | #252 | 0.46 |
| 1910 | 71 | #293 | 0.37 |
| 1909 | 58 | #301 | 0.35 |
| 1908 | 60 | #279 | 0.39 |
| 1907 | 53 | #293 | 0.36 |
| 1906 | 54 | #268 | 0.41 |
| 1905 | 55 | #267 | 0.42 |
| 1904 | 32 | #355 | 0.25 |
| 1903 | 40 | #298 | 0.34 |
| 1902 | 28 | #376 | 0.23 |
| 1901 | 24 | #389 | 0.23 |
| 1900 | 35 | #381 | 0.23 |
| 1899 | 43 | #256 | 0.40 |
| 1898 | 28 | #370 | 0.23 |
| 1897 | 25 | #380 | 0.22 |
| 1896 | 29 | #362 | 0.24 |
| 1895 | 28 | #353 | 0.24 |
| 1894 | 17 | #490 | 0.15 |
| 1893 | 15 | #491 | 0.13 |
| 1892 | 11 | #664 | 0.09 |
| 1891 | 12 | #545 | 0.12 |
| 1890 | 22 | #381 | 0.20 |
| 1889 | 19 | #424 | 0.17 |
| 1888 | 9 | #736 | 0.07 |
| 1887 | 9 | #660 | 0.09 |
| 1886 | 11 | #589 | 0.10 |
| 1885 | 9 | #677 | 0.08 |
| 1883 | 8 | #703 | 0.08 |
| 1882 | 10 | #628 | 0.09 |
| 1881 | 5 | #956 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Lowell a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Lowell has been given almost only to boys: 347 girls in 144 years of records.
Girls and boys named Lowell: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Lowell, and how old are they?
14,200 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 34% of the 41,677 Americans ever recorded as Lowell. The median Lowell alive today is 68 years old; half are between 55 and 79.
The 2020 Census counted 18,468 people named Lowell (159 women and girls, 18,309 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 17,703 born in the U.S. The Census count is 4% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 2,980 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 6,100 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 2,660 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 1,330 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 632 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 504 |
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 Lowell born?
The states with the most babies named Lowell are Ohio, Illinois and Minnesota, with 23% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Minnesota is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio | 3,301 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Illinois | 2,557 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Minnesota | 2,512 | not ranked | 2.8× |
| Indiana | 2,340 | not ranked | 2.2× |
| Iowa | 1,848 | not ranked | 2.4× |
| California | 1,828 | #2,113 | 0.8× |
| Kentucky | 1,810 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| Texas | 1,582 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Missouri | 1,485 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| Michigan | 1,271 | not ranked | 0.8× |
Where Lowell is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Lowell is most over-represented in South Dakota: since 1910 it was given 2.9 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 Lowell with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Lowell
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 Lowell and names like it
- Compare Lowell and NormanBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1930sLowell peaked in 1931.
- Ohio’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Lowell since 1910.
- From surnamesWiktionary’s origin for Lowell: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1931The year the most babies were named Lowell.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Lowell alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with LMost given first.