Loris
Feminine
Loris is given to both — 1,701 girls and 579 boys since 1880. See Loris as a boy nameSee other names given to both
There is a small nocturnal primate with this name and the word behind it is an insult. The English name of the animal came through French from an old Dutch word for a clown or a simpleton — a comment on its slow, deliberate way of moving — and it was fastened onto the creature by naturalists who had never watched one for long.
How old is the name Loris?
Loris first appears in US birth records in 1903 — 122 years ago. The typical Loris alive today was born around 1938, making them about 87 years old. About 700 people named Loris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Loris most popular?
Loris peaked in 1935, reaching #861 nationally. See the whole 1935 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Loris
In Italy this is a man's name of no known parentage. It has been in steady use for a century or so, borne by footballers, artists and ordinary people, and Italian naming references simply record it without an etymology — which they do not often do, since most Italian names are traceable to a saint, a Latin word or a place. Suggestions exist: a character in a book, a variant of Lorenzo, a borrowing from somewhere further north. None has evidence, and the name has got along perfectly well without one.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Italian personal name has no established source. It is not a shortening of any documented longer name, and the resemblance to the animal's name is a coincidence rather than a derivation.
Pronouncing Loris
LOR-iss
Two syllables with the stress at the front. Italian gives both vowels a fuller value than English does.
Nicknames for Loris
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
- 1903
- Most girls named
- 193564 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #861reached in 1935
- Change vs 2001
- −16.7%5 in 2019, from 6
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.
Loris in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Loris in Italian — same name
Loriss among us
people named Loris 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
Loris 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
- It is short, easy and completely settled in sound.
- It works across the sexes without straining for it.
- It is a living name in Italy rather than an American invention.
- Most children with this spelling are girls, but a real minority are boys; either may be taken for the other.
- No meaning can be given, in Italian or in English.
- The generation that used it in America is now very old.
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Loris
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Loriss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Loris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Loris in 2025?
- Loris is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Loris with classmates?
- Loris 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 Loris? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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