Lawana
Feminine
Lawana and Lawanda are one front with two different backs, and the front is the interesting half. That opening syllable was among the most productive things in twentieth-century American naming, and it attached itself to almost anything that would take it.
How old is the name Lawana?
Lawana first appears in US birth records in 1918 — 107 years ago. The typical Lawana alive today was born around 1958, making them about 67 years old. About 2,200 people named Lawana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lawana most popular?
Lawana peaked in 1939, reaching #1079 nationally. See the whole 1939 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Lawana
The w in the middle is doing something English has no other letter for. It is not a consonant here in any full sense but a glide, a small rounding of the lips between two vowels, and English writes it with a w because there is nothing else available. Spanish would write it with a u, and several languages would not write it at all. That is why the record carries Lawana, Lauana and Laquana, all trying to spell one small movement of the mouth. The name appears early, well before the decade its family is usually assigned to, which suggests the pattern was quietly productive long before anybody named it.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No meaning attaches. The front is a detached syllable and the back is either the Polish name Wanda shortened or a syllable of the same kind, and neither carries sense in this position.
Pronouncing Lawana
luh-WAH-nuh
Three syllables with the weight in the middle. The first is reduced almost to nothing, which is why the spelling of it varies.
Nicknames for Lawana
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1918
- Most girls named
- 196485 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1079reached in 1939
- Change vs 1991
- −44.4%5 in 2000, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Lawanas among us
people named Lawana are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Lawana sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- The stress in the middle gives it a lift most English names of its length do not have.
- Every sound in it is easy and the spelling follows the sound.
- It is genuinely uncommon while remaining entirely readable.
- Lawanda, Lawanna and Lawana are near neighbors and will be confused.
- There is no meaning to pass on; the name begins with the family that built it.
- It reads as a name of the middle of the twentieth century.
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Lawana
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Lawanas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,200 people named Lawana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lawana in 2025?
- Lawana is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Lawana with classmates?
- Lawana will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More L names
The most-given names starting with L, all years combined.
Linda#902 · Lisa#987 · Laura#379 · Lauren#401 · Lillian#57 · Lori#1721 · Louise#514 · Lois#1666
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lawana? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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