Lanny

Where Lanny comes from

The dictionaries list Lanny as a given name — a diminutive of the male given name Laurence — but don't trace where it came from. The record below is what the SSA data shows.

  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1919
    First appearance
    #4,168 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1942
    Peak, #299
    414 babies named Lanny — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1953
    Lanny McDonald born
    Canadian ice hockey player
  4. 1957
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #570.
  5. 1981
    Lanny Barby born
    French Canadian pornographic actress
  6. 2011
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the male given name Laurence.
  • A diminutive of the male given name Roland.
Namesakes
  • Lanny Barby · French Canadian pornographic actress, born 1981
  • Lanny McDonald · Canadian ice hockey player, born 1953
  • Lanny Bassham · American sports shooter, born 1947
  • Lanny Flaherty · American actor, 1942–2024
  • Lanny Poffo · Canadian-American professional wrestler and author, 1954–2023

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.