Lulu: Meaning of Baby Name Lulu

About the Name Lulu

Lulu is an Arabic feminine name meaning "pearls," derived from lulu, the Arabic word for the iridescent gem — a name that evokes beauty, rarity, and luminous quality. In Arabic-speaking cultures the name carries elegant connotations. Beyond its Arabic roots, Lulu also functions in several European traditions as a playful diminutive of Louise, Louisa, or other Lou- names, and its reduplicative structure — the same syllable repeated — gives it an inherently cheerful, affectionate sound that has made it popular as a pet name across many languages and cultures.

In the US Social Security records, Lulu first appeared in the top-1000 in 1880 and peaked the following year in 1881 at rank #76, its highest tracked position. The name's top-1000 window was brief, running through 1886 with its final recorded appearance at rank #90 and 376 births that year — a total of 2,223 top-1000 births across the full tracked span. It has not appeared in the SSA top-1000 in the records tracked here beyond 1886, making it a name with deep Victorian-era roots and a rarity today that functions more as a marker of distinctive vintage taste.

For contemporary parents, Lulu's appeal lies in its lively sound, its cross-cultural meaning, and its status as a genuinely uncommon choice. Recorded variants include Loulou and Lula, both of which share the same reduplicative warmth as the base form.

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.

Quick Facts About Lulu

1,165

Arabic baby names in our dictionary

466

Arabic female names

103

4-letter L-names in our dictionary

530

L-female names total

1880–1886

years of US SSA records (7 total)

2,223

total US births named Lulu (all years)

US Popularity History (1880–1886)

↘️ Falling: Lulu dropped 14 places in the US girls ranking over the last 5 years (#76 in 1881 → #90 in 1886).

Annual US births named Lulu by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 1886 with 376 girls named Lulu (girl rank #90 that year).

Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.

Looking for names like Lulu?

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Compare Lulu to Other Popular Names

Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Lulu against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).

Lulu vs Olivia 210,124 births since 2014

Lulu vs Emma 202,477 births since 2014

Lulu vs Sophia 169,709 births since 2014

Lulu vs Isabella 158,431 births since 2014

Lulu vs Ava 157,356 births since 2014

Lulu vs Charlotte 151,872 births since 2014

Lulu vs Mia 149,779 births since 2014

Lulu vs Amelia 142,728 births since 2014

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