Lue
Feminine · “probably a short form of Louise”
Lue is given to both — 6,474 girls and 695 boys since 1880. See Lue as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Lue is three letters that have served as a short form of at least three different names, and the record has held it for sons and daughters since records began. The French word it matches sits inside one of the most argued-over pronunciations in English.
How old is the name Lue?
Lue was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Lue alive today was born around 1927, making them about 98 years old. About 1,700 people named Lue are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lue most popular?
Lue peaked in 1886, reaching #305 nationally. See the whole 1886 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Lue
A lieutenant is, literally, a place-holder: the French lieu tenant, one holding the place of a superior. The word came into English in the fourteenth century and has been spelled that way ever since. What nobody has explained is why the British army says it leftenant. The pronunciation is old — it is recorded in spellings like leftenant and luftenant from the fourteenth century onward, so it is not a modern affectation — and the usual theory is that readers of the manuscript form misread the u as a v or an f, since the letters were written alike. Another account has it that an f crept in from a French variant. Neither is settled. The American army standardized on the spelling pronunciation in the nineteenth century; the British navy, oddly, says it the American way for the rank of lieutenant at sea.
Meaningscholars disagree
probably a short form of Louise, Louis or Lucy
Those three names produce the same sound and have different origins — two Germanic, one Latin. Registered alone, the short form points back to none of them in particular, and some families almost certainly built it straight from the sound.
Pronouncing Lue
LOO
One syllable. The final e is silent and marks the word as a name rather than as the two letters in front of it, which is the only work it does.
Nicknames for Lue
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 1919160 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #305reached in 1886
- Change vs 1976
- −16.7%5 in 1985, 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.
Lues among us
people named Lue 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
Lue 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
- Three letters fit any field on any form and cannot realistically be misspelled.
- It works for a child of either sex, which the record confirms.
- One syllable is quick, clear and carries across a room.
- Lou and Lu are both commoner spellings and will be written for it.
- It reads as a short form, and people will ask what it stands for.
- Which longer name it belongs to is not recorded, so the answer has to be a family one.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Lue
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Lues are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,700 people named Lue are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lue in 2025?
- Lue is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Lue with classmates?
- Lue 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 Lue? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lue and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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