Lourdes
Feminine
Lourdes is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 14,805 girls against 69 boys since 1880.
Lourdes is a small town at the foot of the Pyrenees, and it was an unremarkable one until 1858. What happened there turned it into one of the most visited pilgrimage sites in the world and put its name on a great many Spanish-speaking daughters.
How old is the name Lourdes?
Lourdes first appears in US birth records in 1916 — 109 years ago. The typical Lourdes alive today was born around 1979, making them about 46 years old. About 13,500 people named Lourdes are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lourdes most popular?
Lourdes peaked in 1963, reaching #532 nationally. Today it ranks #2895, 2,363 places below that high. See the whole 1963 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Lourdes
In 1858 a fourteen-year-old girl from the town reported a series of visions at a grotto by the river Gave, and the site became a shrine, then a destination for millions. Catholic families across the Spanish-speaking world began giving Lourdes as a name in honor of it — the same practice that produced Guadalupe, Fátima and Carmen, in which a Marian title becomes a daughter's name. It reaches United States records almost entirely from Mexican, Cuban and Puerto Rican families, and it is far more common there than in France, where the town is.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The town's name has no settled derivation. A long-standing local legend derives it from a Moorish commander said to have been baptized there, which is the kind of story that gets attached to a place-name rather than the kind that explains one. A Basque or pre-Roman origin is more likely, given where the town sits, and has not been established. The name means the place; the place's own name is not recoverable.
Pronouncing Lourdes
LOOR-des
Two syllables in Spanish, with the stress on the first and the final s sounded. French says it as one syllable, closer to LOORD, with the final consonants nearly silent. American English follows the Spanish.
Nicknames for Lourdes
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
- 1916
- Most girls named
- 1962329 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #532reached in 1963
- Change vs 2023
- −20.5%58 in 2025, from 73
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.
Lourdes in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lourdes in French — same name
- Lourdes in Spanish — same name
- Lurdes in Portuguese — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Lourdess among us
people named Lourdes are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 27,712 born in 2025 was named Lourdes
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Marcelle test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Lourdes's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Marcelle climbed just as high around 1920, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Marcelle's path sketches the road Lourdes is walking now.
Lourdes sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Lourdes is headed
Lourdes should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Lourdes beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lourdes in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A real place with an enormous and well-documented history behind it.
- Lulu and Lou are both ready short forms in two languages.
- Entirely ordinary in Spanish-speaking countries rather than exotic there.
- It is an unmistakably Catholic name and will be read as a statement of faith.
- The French and Spanish pronunciations differ noticeably, so the child may hear both.
- Its own meaning is genuinely unknown, since the town's name has never been traced.
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What they receive
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Lourdes
Feminine · #2895 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lourdess are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 13,500 people named Lourdes are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lourdes in 2025?
- Lourdes ranks #2895 among US girl names in 2025, with 58 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lourdes?
- About 1 in every 27,712 US girls born in 2025 was named Lourdes — 58 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lourdes with classmates?
- Lourdes will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lourdes
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Noora#2895 · Mylie#2895 · Vanellope#2895 · Amore#2895 · Miamor#2895 · Alyah#2895 · Alaska#2895 · Anastacia#2895
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lourdes? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lourdes and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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