Lance

Where Lance comes from

The surname is derived from a medieval given name Lanzo, short form of names beginning with the Germanic element *land; see land. Doublet of Lanzo.
— Wiktionary's entry for Lance
  • Germanic
  • 1 syllable
  • Vowel-ended
Lance through the years
  1. 1899
    First appearance
    #1,051 among boys with 5 babies, the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1970
    Peak, #76
    4,160 babies named Lance, the most in any year.
  3. 1971
    Lance Armstrong born
    cyclist from the United States
  4. 1973
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births, down to #148.
  5. 1998
    Lance Stroll born
    Canadian and Belgian racing driver
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from the Germanic languages; by folk etymology associated with a lance.
  • A diminutive of the male given name Lancelot.
  • A male given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Lance Armstrong · cyclist from the United States, born 1971
  • Lance Stroll · Canadian and Belgian racing driver, born 1998
  • Lance Henriksen · American actor, born 1940
  • Lance Reddick · American actor, 1962–2023
  • Lance Bass · American singer, dancer, actor, and film and television producer, born 1979

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.