The Love surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 82,873 people carried this name — #385 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 3,560 people counted. That is up 6% from 78,323 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Love surname
In Ireland’s birth registers, 1890
Ireland registered 22 births for the Love name in 1890.
Most were registered in Ulster. By the Registrar-General’s own method — births multiplied by 44.38 — that is about 1,000 people bearing the name in Ireland at the time. The Registrar-General’s note on the name: “Londonderry.”
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born, 1890
Registrar-General for Ireland, «Special Report on Surnames in Ireland» (R. E. Matheson, 1894), births index of 1890 — public domain.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 35 people named Love.
Most of them — 28 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 4 départements, most often Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Poland’s population register
24 people named Love have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 52 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 8 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Masovian.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In the Nordic population registers
86 people named Love are counted in Sweden and Finland.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published. Finland counts its citizens, at home or abroad.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown) · Digital and Population Data Services Agency (DVV), Finland, surname statistics, August 2026 — CC BY 4.0.
Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s
Love was found among the farmers of Kent: 12 in every 10,000.
Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent.
Where it concentrates, on the mapPer 10,000 farmers, by county
H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.
In Scotland’s registers today
Love was recorded 94 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.
That made it the 273rd most common name in those registers, shared with others on the same count. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 145. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.
National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
In the first U.S. census, 1790
128 Love families were counted in 1790.
Each family is counted by its head. About 688 people lived in those households, 5.4 to a family on average. The table lists white heads of families only, in the twelve states whose 1790 records survive; Virginia’s figures come from state lists of 1782–1785.
Families, by state
U.S. Census Bureau, «A Century of Population Growth from the First Census of the United States to the Twelfth, 1790–1900» (Washington, 1909), table 111, p. 250 — public domain · names carried by at least 100 white persons in 1790.
In print
Love in American newspapers,
1884–1896.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 9,902 pages in all carry the name.
In print
Love in Australian newspapers,
1810s–2010s.
124,743 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Love. The most, 22,838, date from the 1930s.
Articles, by state
Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Love.
Who carried it
People named Love,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Minnie Love d. 1967 · singer -
Nicholas Love d. 1424 · writer
-
Edward G. Love d. 1919 · chemist
-
John Love d. 1792 · bookseller
-
John Love d. 1721
-
Martha Love d. 1738
Wikidata (CC0) · portraits via Wikimedia Commons, shown cropped, in the public domain or CC0 · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.
In the public record
People named Love,
in the records of 9 countries.
Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.
United States5,839 records
- U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 2,443
- U.S. veterans' cemetery records, burials to 2001 1,124
- Other U.S. records 2,272
-
Example: U.S. war memorial War record Anthony Ray LoveBorn 1950; from Gastonia, North Carolina. U.S. Marine Corps, rifleman; killed in action 1968 in Quang Tri, South Vietnam. Buried at Gaston Memorial Park, Gastonia, North Carolina.
U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) -
Example: U.S. registration card, 1942 Military record Theodore R. LoveBorn 1914 in Mississippi. Enlisted 1942 at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri; barber. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1983, buried at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, Missouri.
U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) -
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record Sara LoveArrived at New York in 1844 aboard the Johann Georg from Bremen, aged 25; merchant. From Wankheina, Germany; bound for Albany.
U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
Showing 3 of 5,839 records for Love in the United States.
Counts: U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · City of Asheville (public domain, PDDL) · Ramsey County, Minnesota (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Vietnam Veterans Memorial, photo by U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden, 2009 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).
Australia2,443 records
- Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 1,252
- Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 443
- Other Australian records 748
-
Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829 Transportation record John LoveTransported to Van Diemen's Land aboard the Pestongee Bomangee, sailing from Plymouth in 1852. Native of London, Middlesex. Applied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1855. Married 1855 in Launceston, Tasmania.
Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: probate petition, 1848 Probate record Charles Edward LoveDied 1917 in France, Tasmania. Will registered in Tasmania in 1918.
Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: marriage register, 1911 Marriage record Ellen LoveApplied for permission to marry in Van Diemen's Land in 1849. Married 1849 in Launceston, Tasmania, aged 20.
Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 3 of 2,443 records for Love in Australia.
Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · ACT Government, Transport Canberra and City Services (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).
Canada285 records
- Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 105
- Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 48
- Other Canadian records 132
-
Example: civil register, 1880 Civil record Ernest LoveKilled in 1920 at the Acadia No. 3 mine, Nova Scotia.
Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. -
Example: passenger manifest, 1903 Passenger record Robt LoveCame to Ontario in 1871 aboard the St. David, landing at Quebec, bound for Hamilton, Ontario; Scotch.
Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. -
Example: Canadian cemetery Burial record Herbert Gordon LoveBuried in 1971 at Burnsland Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 81.
City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
Showing 3 of 285 records for Love in Canada.
Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Halifax Regional Municipality. Contains information licenced under the Open Government Licence—Halifax. · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).
United Kingdom84 records
- War Office casualty lists, 1917–1919, among the dead 45
- Stirling Council burial records 30
- Other British records 9
-
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record William LoveDied 1989, aged 70; buried at St Thomas Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.
Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. -
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record Christopher LoveBuried in 1806 at St James's burial ground, Euston, London, aged 55.
MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. -
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record Elizabeth LoveDied 1979, aged 78; buried at Bannockburn Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland.
Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Showing 3 of 84 records for Love in the United Kingdom.
Counts: National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).
Norway76 records
-
Example: U.S. census, 1910 Census record Edvard LøveCensus of 1910: Løve, nordre, Hedrum; farmer, born 1876 in Hedrum.
Arkivverket, Digitalarkivet, 1910 census (CC BY 3.0 NO) -
Example: U.S. census, 1910 Census record Josefine LøveCensus of 1910: Olafs gate, Larvik; seamstress, born 1858 in Fredrikstad.
Arkivverket, Digitalarkivet, 1910 census (CC BY 3.0 NO) -
Example: U.S. census, 1910 Census record Johannes LøveCensus of 1910: Løve, nordre, Hedrum; seaman, born 1885 in Hedrum.
Arkivverket, Digitalarkivet, 1910 census (CC BY 3.0 NO)
Showing 3 of 76 records for Love in Norway.
Counts: Arkivverket, Digitalarkivet, 1910 census (CC BY 3.0 NO). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. census of 1910, Milwaukee (public domain).
New Zealand43 records
- Christchurch City cemetery records 34
- Marlborough District cemetery records 6
- Other New Zealand records 3
-
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record Esther LoveBuried in 1890 at Shortland Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato, aged 70.
Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record George LoveDied 1998, aged 73; buried at Picton Cemetery, Marlborough.
Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: burial register, 1858 Burial record Janet LoveDied 1920, aged 79; buried at Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury.
Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 3 of 43 records for Love in New Zealand.
Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).
Netherlands19 records
- Dutch church registers before 1811 13
- Dutch population registers 3
- Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 3
-
Example: civil register, 1880 Death record David B. LoveDied 1875 in Heenvliet, aged 30.
Open Archives, Streekarchief Voorne-Putten (CC BY 4.0) -
Example: marriage register, 1911 Marriage record Lura May LoveMarried in 1905 in Amsterdam.
Open Archives, Noord-Hollands Archief (CC BY 4.0)
Showing 2 of 19 records for Love in the Netherlands.
Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).
France14 records
-
Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Elisabeth Mabel LoveBorn 1912 in the United Kingdom; died 1992 in Fréjus (Var).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte) -
Example: French death register, 1930 Death record Robert Michel Norman LoveBorn 1939 in Courbevoie (Paris); died 1980 in Yssingeaux (Haute-Loire).
Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
Showing 2 of 14 records for Love in France.
Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).
Germany2 records
-
Example: German casualty list, 1918 Casualty list Friedrich LoveFrom Schüttorf, Bentheim. Reported dead in the Prussian casualty list of 9 December 1914 (Infantry Regiment No. 172).
Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0)
Showing 1 of 2 records for Love in Germany.
Counts: Verein für Computergenealogie e.V. (2026). Deutsche Verlustlisten des Ersten Weltkriegs – Datensammlung (Version 1.0), DOI 10.5281/zenodo.18330751 (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Deutsche Verlustlisten, Prussian list 1116, 18 April 1918 (scan via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0).
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Love.
- Louvier 428 · U.S. census
- Louwagie 377 · U.S. census
- Loux 1,176 · U.S. census
- Louy 111 · U.S. census
- Louzon 202 · U.S. census
- Lovato 8,293 · U.S. census
- Lovejoy 8,351 · U.S. census
- Lovelace 13,787 · U.S. census
- Lovelady 3,992 · U.S. census
- Loveland 5,766 · U.S. census
- Loveless 9,533 · U.S. census
- Lovell 21,171 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Love is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.