Head to head · Boys' names
Landon vs Luis
#127 vs #144 in 2025
Landon is a whisker ahead (#127 vs #144 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Landon is stepping back from its peak, Luis is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Luis has the edge.
Cast your vote
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, Landon leads 3 measures of 6; Luis leads 2.
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: Landon #855, Luis #576 — Luis higher
- 1890s: Landon #885, Luis #642 — Luis higher
- 1900s: Landon #1100, Luis #462 — Luis higher
- 1910s: Landon #1313, Luis #483 — Luis higher
- 1920s: Landon #1244, Luis #337 — Luis higher
- 1930s: Landon #1150, Luis #330 — Luis higher
- 1940s: Landon #1239, Luis #325 — Luis higher
- 1950s: Landon #1313, Luis #229 — Luis higher
- 1960s: Landon #923, Luis #179 — Luis higher
- 1970s: Landon #641, Luis #116 — Luis higher
- 1980s: Landon #336, Luis #84 — Luis higher
- 1990s: Landon #245, Luis #59 — Luis higher
- 2000s: Landon #96, Luis #59 — Luis higher
- 2010s: Landon #46, Luis #104 — Landon higher
- 2020s: Landon #93, Luis #135 — Landon higher
Luis stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Landon has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Landon | Luis |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #855 | #576 |
| 1890s | #885 | #642 |
| 1900s | #1100 | #462 |
| 1910s | #1313 | #483 |
| 1920s | #1244 | #337 |
| 1930s | #1150 | #330 |
| 1940s | #1239 | #325 |
| 1950s | #1313 | #229 |
| 1960s | #923 | #179 |
| 1970s | #641 | #116 |
| 1980s | #336 | #84 |
| 1990s | #245 | #59 |
| 2000s | #96 | #59 |
| 2010s | #46 | #104 |
| 2020s | #93 | #135 |
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
Landon
long hill
The main reading traces Landon to the English surname Langdon, from Old English lang (long) and dūn (hill or down) — the name of several places in the English southwest. A second reading connects it to Norman French lande, a heath or open moor, which produced surnames such as Landon in France. Both are respectable; the English hill is the more commonly cited.
lang dūn (Old English, "long hill") → Langdon (English place name) → Langdon (surname) → Landon
How it traveled
Old English gave England hundreds of hills called dūn, and a long one was a langdūn — a description that hardened into place names and then into the surnames of families who came from them. Landon is the worn-down spelling of that surname, and like Hunter and Carson it crossed the Atlantic on the family side of the ledger before anyone thought to hand it to a baby as a first name.
Luis
famous in battle
From Frankish Chlodovech: hlud, loud or famous, with wig, battle. Luis is the Spanish and Portuguese form, Louis the French, Ludwig the German, Luigi the Italian. All descend from the name of the first Christian king of the Franks.
Chlodovech → Ludovicus → Louis → Luis
How it traveled
The name went through eighteen French kings, and one of them was made a saint — Louis the Ninth, who led two crusades, died of dysentery outside Tunis on the second, and spent enormous sums on relics in between. That canonization is the reason the name is on so much of the American map.
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
Landon
LAN-dun
Stress on the first syllable; the second is a soft, unstressed -dun. One pronunciation everywhere in American English.
- Lando — Informal shortening; also stands alone in Italian as a short form of Orlando.
- Lan — Very short, used within families rather than on paperwork.
- Landy — Informal, more common in childhood and on sports teams.
Luis
loo-EES
Two syllables, stress on the second, in Spanish. English speakers often say LOO-is with the weight at the front, or LOO-ee following the French, which drops the s entirely.
- Lucho — The standard Spanish clip in South America; used widely and warmly.
- Güicho — A Mexican family form built on the ending.
- Lu — A single syllable; used for either child.
- Louie — The English form, used by Luises who anglicize.
Who has carried each name
Landon
Landon Donovan (b. 1982) — US soccer's all-time great
Luis
Luis Fonsi (b. 1978) — "Despacito" singer
Luis Buñuel (b. 1900) — Pioneer of surrealist cinema
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Landon if you want…
- a name most people already know#127 in 2025, 2,840 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsLandon is stepping back from its peak
- a newer arrivalLandon entered the US charts in 1882
- a name that feels very nowLandon is stepping back from its peak
Choose Luis if you want…
- a name fewer children share#144 in 2025 — luis will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a long American recordLuis was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 25% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 78% for Landon
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
Landon
Strengths
- Reads and spells itself on first hearing for American English speakers — no accents, no silent letters, no correction routine.
- Two syllables with the stress up front, which sits easily beside most one- and two-syllable surnames.
- A documented English surname history stretching back to Old English place names, rather than a coinage.
To consider
- Landen, Landyn and Landin all exist, so the spelling will occasionally be checked even though yours is the standard one.
- It sits close to Brandon and to London in sound, and gets misheard as both over the phone.
- The name's big rise is recent enough that most Landons alive are children and teenagers — it may read as belonging to a particular stretch of years rather than as an old family name.
Luis
Strengths
- A settled Frankish meaning with both elements traceable, one of them into modern English.
- The same four letters in Spanish and Portuguese, and recognizable in six more languages.
- Four short forms, two of them genuinely Spanish rather than anglicized.
To consider
- English speakers regularly move the stress to the front or drop the s.
- Louis and Luis are the same name and will be interchanged on paperwork.
- It is among the most given names in the Spanish-speaking world, so it carries no signal there.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Landon
78%chance Landon feels dated by 2040
Landon is coming down from a big peak (#33 in 2010). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Luis
25%chance Luis feels dated by 2040
Luis peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
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 Landon and Luis 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
Still torn between Landon and Luis?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Landon and Luis — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Landon or Luis — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Landon or Luis?
- Landon, in 2025: Landon ranked #127 with 2,840 babies; Luis ranked #144 with 2,475 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Landon or Luis?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Landon moved down 58 places; Luis moved down 7 places.
- Which is the older name, Landon or Luis?
- Landon entered the US charts in 1882; Luis was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Luis is the older name.
- How many people are named Landon and Luis?
- About 183,000 people named Landon are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 271,000 people named Luis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Landons or Luiss in the classroom?
- Landon will almost certainly be the only one in school. Luis 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
Keep playing
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