Lum
Lum was last recorded in 1961, when 5 babies were given it; 493 Americans have been recorded with it between 1880 and 1961 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Lum by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Lum mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Lum is “a diminutive of the male given name Columbus.”
Clipping of Columbus.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Lum?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #4,429, in 1961; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
17 babies in 1884, the peak
Lum peaked in 1884, when 17 boys were given it, #460 among boys’ names. It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 5 | #4,429 | under 0.01 |
| 1958 | 6 | #3,778 | under 0.01 |
| 1955 | 5 | #4,188 | under 0.01 |
| 1952 | 5 | #4,067 | under 0.01 |
| 1950 | 6 | #3,542 | under 0.01 |
| 1949 | 7 | #3,192 | under 0.01 |
| 1947 | 11 | #2,453 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 7 | #3,073 | under 0.01 |
| 1944 | 5 | #3,727 | under 0.01 |
| 1940 | 6 | #3,331 | 0.01 |
Every recorded year (57)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | 6 | #3,344 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 9 | #2,609 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 5 | #3,860 | under 0.01 |
| 1933 | 6 | #3,503 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 11 | #2,408 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 9 | #2,793 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 10 | #2,713 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 12 | #2,476 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 8 | #3,331 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 5 | #4,572 | under 0.01 |
| 1924 | 14 | #2,305 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 14 | #2,288 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 11 | #2,735 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 11 | #2,728 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 17 | #2,014 | 0.02 |
| 1919 | 11 | #2,602 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 13 | #2,342 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 6 | #3,810 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 8 | #2,966 | 0.01 |
| 1914 | 6 | #3,120 | 0.01 |
| 1913 | 12 | #1,636 | 0.02 |
| 1909 | 11 | #932 | 0.07 |
| 1906 | 6 | #1,197 | 0.05 |
| 1905 | 7 | #1,046 | 0.05 |
| 1904 | 6 | #1,151 | 0.05 |
| 1902 | 5 | #1,242 | 0.04 |
| 1901 | 7 | #906 | 0.07 |
| 1900 | 8 | #1,012 | 0.05 |
| 1899 | 6 | #1,002 | 0.06 |
| 1898 | 6 | #1,077 | 0.05 |
| 1897 | 7 | #900 | 0.06 |
| 1896 | 8 | #868 | 0.07 |
| 1895 | 7 | #943 | 0.06 |
| 1894 | 10 | #706 | 0.09 |
| 1892 | 11 | #666 | 0.09 |
| 1891 | 7 | #813 | 0.07 |
| 1890 | 9 | #712 | 0.08 |
| 1889 | 7 | #855 | 0.06 |
| 1888 | 15 | #516 | 0.12 |
| 1887 | 8 | #719 | 0.08 |
| 1886 | 8 | #733 | 0.07 |
| 1885 | 7 | #811 | 0.06 |
| 1884 | 17 | #460 | 0.15 |
| 1883 | 14 | #491 | 0.13 |
| 1882 | 12 | #564 | 0.11 |
| 1881 | 7 | #750 | 0.07 |
| 1880 | 10 | #623 | 0.09 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Lum a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Lum has been recorded only for boys: SSA lists no girls with the name in 57 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Lum: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Lum, and how old are they?
An estimated 41 Americans named Lum and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026, too few to state an age range. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 227 people named Lum (72 women and girls, 155 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 59 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3.8 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
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 Lum
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 Lum and names like it
- Compare Lum and PinkBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1880sLum peaked in 1884.
- The top names of 1884The year the most babies were named Lum.
- Names starting with LMost given first.