Girls' name · peaked in 1929
Lois name popularity since 1925
247,039 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Lois (99.3% girls, 0.7% boys). Half of them were born in 1938 or earlier, so the typical Lois is about 88 years old in 2026. Lois peaked in 1929 as the #17 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 247,039
- Named Lois, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1929
- #17 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #1,670 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.3% girls
- 245,379 girls · 1,660 boys
- Most popular in
- South Dakota
- 2.73× its national share
Peak year is the year Lois made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Lois births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1927. Measured as a share of all babies, Lois peaked in 1929.
- Steepest fall: Between 1965 and 1970, Lois's share of baby girls fell by 57%, from 1 in 1,470 to 1 in 3,380.
Shaded on the chart. This compares Lois's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Lois.
Decade by decade
Babies named Lois in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 50,614 | 358 | – |
| 1930s | 80,713 | 638 | #21 |
| 1940s | 56,854 | 288 | #48 |
| 1950s | 36,200 | 147 | #124 |
| 1960s | 13,254 | 91 | #249 |
| 1970s | 2,884 | 52 | #676 |
| 1980s | 1,397 | 42 | #1,122 |
| 1990s | 930 | 20 | #1,555 |
| 2000s | 783 | 18 | #2,616 |
| 2010s | 1,023 | 0 | #1,880 |
| 2020–25 | 727 | 6 | #1,670 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
55.8% of babies named Lois from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Lois is most popular
The index compares Lois's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Lois.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| South Dakota | 2.73× | 2,137 |
| North Dakota | 2.71× | 2,096 |
| Nebraska | 2.20× | 3,784 |
| Iowa | 2.19× | 6,829 |
| Minnesota | 1.90× | 8,490 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Lois's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Lois.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Lois (1929).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data