Head to head · Boys' names
Jeffrey vs Ledger
#552 vs #553 in 2025
Jeffrey is a whisker ahead (#552 vs #553 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Jeffrey is stepping back from its peak, Ledger is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Ledger has the edge.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Jeffrey leads 5 measures of 6; Ledger leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Jeffrey #936, Ledger — — Jeffrey higher
- 1910s: Jeffrey #1612, Ledger — — Jeffrey higher
- 1920s: Jeffrey #1480, Ledger #3863 — Jeffrey higher
- 1930s: Jeffrey #924, Ledger — — Jeffrey higher
- 1940s: Jeffrey #99, Ledger — — Jeffrey higher
- 1950s: Jeffrey #26, Ledger — — Jeffrey higher
- 1960s: Jeffrey #11, Ledger — — Jeffrey higher
- 1970s: Jeffrey #17, Ledger — — Jeffrey higher
- 1980s: Jeffrey #31, Ledger — — Jeffrey higher
- 1990s: Jeffrey #66, Ledger — — Jeffrey higher
- 2000s: Jeffrey #160, Ledger #5174 — Jeffrey higher
- 2010s: Jeffrey #284, Ledger #1271 — Jeffrey higher
- 2020s: Jeffrey #470, Ledger #569 — Jeffrey higher
Jeffrey stood higher in every recorded decade — 13 of 13.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Jeffrey | Ledger |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #936 | — |
| 1910s | #1612 | — |
| 1920s | #1480 | #3863 |
| 1930s | #924 | — |
| 1940s | #99 | — |
| 1950s | #26 | — |
| 1960s | #11 | — |
| 1970s | #17 | — |
| 1980s | #31 | — |
| 1990s | #66 | — |
| 2000s | #160 | #5174 |
| 2010s | #284 | #1271 |
| 2020s | #470 | #569 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Jeffrey
peace
The second half is certainly the Germanic word for peace. The first half is not: several different Frankish names collapsed into one form in medieval French, and no one can say which of them any particular bearer descends from.
Gaufrid → Geoffrey → Jeffrey
How it traveled
The name has one bearer nobody forgets. Jeffrey Hudson was born in Rutland in the seventeenth century and stopped growing at under two feet; the Duke of Buckingham's household acquired him, and at a banquet for the king and queen he was served to them concealed inside a pie, from which he emerged.
Ledger
'People-spear', from the Germanic name behind the surname — or simply the English word for a book of accounts
Two readings genuinely compete. Genealogical scholarship traces the English surname Ledger (also spelled Leger, Legear) to Old French Legier, from the Germanic personal name Leodegar, built from elements meaning 'people' and 'spear'. Alongside that sits the ordinary English noun: a ledger was originally a book that stayed lying in one place, from a Middle English word related to 'lie'. Modern parents may hear either, and both are real.
Leodegar → Legier → Léger → Leger → Ledger
How it traveled
Leodegar was a Germanic personal name carried into France, where it wore down to Léger; a seventh-century bishop of Autun, Leodegar, made it a name churches remembered, and it survives in French and English place names built on Saint-Léger. Crossing into English, it hardened into the surnames Leger, Legear and Ledger, and for most of its life that is what it was — a family name, not a first name.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Jeffrey
JEF-ree
Two syllables with the weight at the front. Jeffrey and Geoffrey are said identically, which is why the two spellings have never merged.
- Jeff — The standard short form; used in speech far more than the full name.
- Geoff — The British spelling of the same short form, said identically.
- JD — Initials used as a name where the surname supplies the second letter.
Ledger
LEJ-er
Two syllables, stress on the first, soft g as in 'edge'. Because it matches a common English word, almost every American reader gets it right on sight and needs no correction.
- Ledge — The obvious informal clip, used at home and on playgrounds; not found as a given name on its own.
- Led — A shorter informal form, mostly family use.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Jeffrey if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsJeffrey is stepping back from its peak
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Ledger
Choose Ledger if you want…
- a name on the way upup 78 places on the charts in five years
- a name that feels very nowLedger is holding its place on the charts
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Jeffrey
Strengths
- Everyone can spell it and say it on first hearing across the English-speaking world.
- Jeff is one of the most established short forms in the language.
- It has a documented English history reaching back to the Norman Conquest.
To consider
- Geoffrey, Jeffery and Jefferey are all live spellings, and correcting them is a lifelong task.
- It is strongly associated with the middle of the twentieth century in America.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of girls, though it reads overwhelmingly as a boy's name.
Ledger
Strengths
- A spelling nobody has to learn: it is already an English word, so it is read correctly the first time and rarely misspelled.
- Pronunciation is fixed and obvious — one likely reading only, no regional split.
- A documented surname line running back through French Léger to the Germanic Leodegar, which is more history than most modern surname-names carry.
To consider
- The accounting association is the first thing many adults will think of — balance sheets, bookkeeping, 'in the black'. Most of that lands as mild wordplay rather than anything worse, but it will come up.
- It is also widely known as the surname of a well-known Australian actor, so some people will hear a last name first and ask whether it is a family name.
- Nearly everyone carrying it right now is a small child, which means for a while it will read distinctly as a young person's name — a passing effect, but a real one.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Jeffrey
12%chance Jeffrey feels dated by 2040
Jeffrey has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Ledger
40%chance Ledger feels dated by 2040
Ledger sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Jeffrey and Ledger in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- The top-10 club: every name that made it
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Midcentury modern: tomorrow's comeback bets
- Baby Boomer names (born 1946–1964)
- all guides
Where Jeffrey and Ledger each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Jeffrey or Ledger — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Jeffrey or Ledger?
- Jeffrey, in 2025: Jeffrey ranked #552 with 544 babies; Ledger ranked #553 with 541 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Jeffrey or Ledger?
- Ledger. Over the last five years Jeffrey moved down 166 places; Ledger moved up 78 places.
- Which is the older name, Jeffrey or Ledger?
- Jeffrey entered the US charts in 1885; Ledger entered the US charts in 1923. On the American record, Jeffrey is the older name.
- How many people are named Jeffrey and Ledger?
- About 832,000 people named Jeffrey are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 4,900 people named Ledger are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Jeffreys or Ledgers in the classroom?
- Jeffrey will almost certainly be the only one in school. Ledger will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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