Recorded 1895–2025 · United States
Lael was most popular in 2025, when 255 American babies were given the name — ranking #1,888 that year. In 2025 it ranked #1,888, with 255 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 3,526 people named Lael.
Lael first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1895, which makes it about 130 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 110 of the 131 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 3,526 American births named Lael between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 3,166 are estimated to be alive today.
255 American babies were named Lael in 2025, ranking #1,888 that year.
Lael is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 141 births a year, against 86 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +64% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Lael is a unisex name — 66.9% of the 3,526 Americans given it were girls and 33.1% were boys. It changed hands: since 2024 it has gone mainly to boys, having gone mainly to girls before that. In births since 2016 it is 51% girls and 49% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 3,166 Americans named Lael are alive today — 90% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 16 years old, and half are between 7 and 42. That is a wide band, the mark of a name in steady use across generations rather than a passing fashion.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Lael on the interactive charts
About · Privacy · Contact
Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org