Lorcan
- Gender
- Boy
- Say it
- LOR-kan
- Origin
- Irish
- UK rank, 2025
- #436 for boys
- US rank, 2025
- #8,239 for boys
- Style
- Big in Northern Ireland
Lorcan is a boys' name of Irish origin, meaning “little fierce one”. In 2025 it ranked 436th for boys in the UK (102 babies) and 8,239th for boys in the US (9 babies).
What does Lorcan mean?
Irish: from Irish Lorcan, from lorcc, fierce
“little fierce one”
St Lorcan Ua Tuathail (Laurence O'Toole), a 12th-century Archbishop of Dublin, is the city's patron saint.
Is Lorcan a girl's or a boy's name?
Lorcan is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 102 boys in the UK and 9 boys in the US. Too few girls were given it to be listed.
How popular is Lorcan in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- 436th among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 102 about 1 in 2,900 boys
- Five-year trend
- Steady much the same
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 102 boys in the UK were named Lorcan, making it the 436th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 441st. Its busiest year was 2023, with 126 boys.
Half of all the boys named Lorcan in the UK since 1996 were born between 2006 and 2020, the years shaded on the chart below.
Among boys in 2025, it was 621st in England and Wales and 48th in Northern Ireland.
Lorcan in the UK, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 102 | #436 |
| 2024 | 97 | #458 |
| 2023 | 126 | #374 |
| 2022 | 100 | #452 |
| 2021 | 109 | #436 |
| 2020 | 101 | #441 |
| 2019 | 120 | #407 |
| 2018 | 105 | #440 |
| 2017 | 93 | #488 |
| 2016 | 100 | #461 |
| 2015 | 96 | #470 |
| 2014 | 104 | #435 |
| 2013 | 86 | #497 |
| 2012 | 84 | #505 |
| 2011 | 88 | #473 |
| 2010 | 68 | #560 |
| 2009 | 64 | #577 |
| 2008 | 66 | #563 |
| 2007 | 81 | #467 |
| 2006 | 78 | #459 |
| 2005 | 65 | #489 |
| 2004 | 72 | #427 |
| 2003 | 49 | #540 |
| 2002 | 70 | #385 |
| 2001 | 64 | #412 |
| 2000 | 53 | #450 |
| 1999 | 58 | #427 |
| 1998 | 40 | #538 |
| 1997 | 31 | #611 |
| 1996 | 17 | #897 |
How popular is Lorcan in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 8,239th among boys
- Babies in 2025
- 9 about 1 in 190,000 boys
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to call too few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 boys
In 2025, 9 boys in the US were named Lorcan, making it the 8,239th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 8,062nd. Its busiest year was 2018, with 17 boys. It first appears in the records in 1997.
2025 had fewer boys named Lorcan than any year since 2020.
Half of all the boys named Lorcan in the US since 1880 were born between 2007 and 2020, the years shaded on the chart below.
Lorcan in the US, year by year
| Year | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 9 | #8,239 |
| 2024 | 11 | #7,252 |
| 2023 | 17 | #5,465 |
| 2022 | 14 | #6,141 |
| 2021 | 14 | #6,027 |
| 2020 | 9 | #8,062 |
| 2019 | 10 | #7,638 |
| 2018 | 17 | #5,316 |
| 2017 | 9 | #8,136 |
| 2016 | 12 | #6,721 |
| 2015 | 7 | #9,562 |
| 2014 | 15 | #5,729 |
| 2013 | 12 | #6,598 |
| 2012 | 7 | #9,703 |
| 2011 | 6 | #10,801 |
| 2010 | 0 | – |
| 2009 | 9 | #8,305 |
| 2008 | 11 | #7,182 |
| 2007 | 9 | #8,169 |
| 2006 | 5 | #12,048 |
| 2005 | 12 | #6,220 |
| 2004 | 9 | #7,530 |
| 2003 | 7 | #8,636 |
| 2002 | 7 | #8,449 |
| 2001 | 5 | #10,548 |
| 2000 | 0 | – |
| 1999 | 6 | #8,697 |
| 1998 | 6 | #8,472 |
| 1997 | 6 | #8,104 |
Names like Lorcan
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Luca, Rowan, Lochlan, Ronan, Luan, Finn, Caelan, Rio, Callan, Ezra, Macsen, Oisin
More Irish names
Oscar, Rory, Maeve, Aiden, Ryan, Nolan, Quinn, Orla, Cody, Erin, Connor, Declan, Casey, Kennedy, Lennon, Cillian
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Lorcan: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/lorcan, updated 20 October 2026.