Head to head · Boys' names
Layton vs Lee
#710 vs #725 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Layton is a whisker ahead (#710 vs #725 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Lee leads 3 measures of 6; Layton 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: Layton #888, Lee #45 — Lee higher
- 1890s: Layton #953, Lee #47 — Lee higher
- 1900s: Layton #1164, Lee #48 — Lee higher
- 1910s: Layton #1136, Lee #78 — Lee higher
- 1920s: Layton #1180, Lee #84 — Lee higher
- 1930s: Layton #1187, Lee #81 — Lee higher
- 1940s: Layton #1204, Lee #88 — Lee higher
- 1950s: Layton #1433, Lee #100 — Lee higher
- 1960s: Layton #1646, Lee #114 — Lee higher
- 1970s: Layton #2205, Lee #129 — Lee higher
- 1980s: Layton #1912, Lee #142 — Lee higher
- 1990s: Layton #1304, Lee #319 — Lee higher
- 2000s: Layton #851, Lee #572 — Lee higher
- 2010s: Layton #638, Lee #687 — Layton higher
- 2020s: Layton #650, Lee #719 — Layton higher
Lee stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Layton has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Layton | Lee |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #888 | #45 |
| 1890s | #953 | #47 |
| 1900s | #1164 | #48 |
| 1910s | #1136 | #78 |
| 1920s | #1180 | #84 |
| 1930s | #1187 | #81 |
| 1940s | #1204 | #88 |
| 1950s | #1433 | #100 |
| 1960s | #1646 | #114 |
| 1970s | #2205 | #129 |
| 1980s | #1912 | #142 |
| 1990s | #1304 | #319 |
| 2000s | #851 | #572 |
| 2010s | #638 | #687 |
| 2020s | #650 | #719 |
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
Layton
leek enclosure — a kitchen-garden settlement
From Old English lēac, 'leek' (used broadly for garden vegetables), plus tūn, 'enclosure, farmstead'. The same two words lie behind the spelling Leighton.
Old English lēac-tūn → Layton (English place name) → Layton (English surname) → Layton (given name)
How it traveled
The name is locational: settlements called Layton in Lancashire and in North Yorkshire took their name from the Old English words for a leek-plot and an enclosed farmstead. English naming practice turned such places into surnames for the families who came from them, and Layton traveled to North America as a surname first.
Lee
Clearing, meadow, open ground in woodland
The English name comes from Old English lēah, a woodland clearing — the same word behind hundreds of English place names ending in -ley and -leigh. Written the same way, Lee is also the standard romanization of the Chinese surname 李 (Lǐ, 'plum tree') and a common romanization of the Korean surname 이 / 李. Those are separate names that arrived at the same four letters, not one name with two meanings.
lēah (Old English, 'clearing') → Lee / Leigh (English place names) → Lee (English surname) → Lee (given name)
How it traveled
Lēah, the Old English word for a clearing, scattered itself across the English landscape and stuck to the families who lived there, giving Lee, Leigh, Legh and Lea as surnames. In the United States it made the ordinary nineteenth-century jump from surname to first name, and did so on a very large scale in the South, where boys were widely named after the Confederate general Robert E.
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
Layton
LAY-tun
Stress on the first syllable. The second syllable is a soft, swallowed -tun, the same ending as in Clayton and Dayton. English speakers read it correctly on sight.
- Lay — The most common informal clipping, used at home and among friends rather than on paperwork.
- Lay-Lay — A doubled nursery form, mostly used with small children and rarely carried into adulthood.
- L — Initial-only nickname, common among schoolmates and on sports rosters.
Lee
LEE
One syllable, rhyming with 'sea'. It sounds identical to Leigh, Lea and the Chinese surname Li, so people who hear it will often ask which spelling you mean.
- Lee — Also serves as the short form for Leland, Leroy, Leonard, Leigh and Ashleigh, so some people called Lee have a longer name on their documents.
- LeeLee — Informal doubling used within families, more often heard for girls than boys.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Layton if you want…
- a name most people already know#710 in 2025, 377 babies that year
- a name holding steadyLayton is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itLayton runs 2 syllables, Lee 1
- a name that feels very nowLayton is holding its place on the charts
Choose Lee if you want…
- a name fewer children share#725 in 2025 — lee will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 43 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesLee is 1 syllable to Layton's 2
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Layton
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
Layton
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds: LAY plus a familiar -ton ending, so it is read right the first time by almost anyone.
To consider
- Leighton is the older spelling of the same Old English name, and in the US it now goes mostly to girls. Expect occasional crossed wires when the name is heard rather than seen.
- It sits inside a crowded sound family — Clayton, Dayton, Peyton, Keaton — so it may be misheard as one of those, and spelling it out will become routine.
- The meaning is agricultural and homely rather than grand. Some parents like that plainness; it is worth knowing before someone else points it out.
Lee
Strengths
- One syllable, four letters, and spelled exactly as it sounds — almost never mispronounced by an English speaker on first sight.
- Unbroken presence in American records since counting began, so it reads as familiar rather than invented at any age.
- Works across languages: the same four letters are the everyday English form of Chinese 李 and Korean 이.
To consider
- In the American South especially, Lee was given to generations of boys in honor of the Confederate general Robert E. Lee. That association has faded a great deal, but it has not vanished, and some people will still hear it.
- Lee, Leigh and Lea sound the same. Expect a lifetime of spelling it out over the phone, even though the name itself is simple.
- It is one of the most-used middle names in American English, so in first position it can briefly read as a middle name to people scanning a list.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Layton
40%chance Layton feels dated by 2040
Layton 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.
Lee
12%chance Lee feels dated by 2040
Lee has held the top-100 across 8 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
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 Layton and Lee 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 Layton and Lee?
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 these names appear on
- Three-letter names: tiny and complete
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Middle names that go with everything
- Video game names in real use
- all guides
Where Layton and Lee each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Layton or Lee — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Layton or Lee?
- Layton, in 2025: Layton ranked #710 with 377 babies; Lee ranked #725 with 366 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Layton or Lee?
- Lee. Over the last five years Layton moved down 89 places; Lee moved up 43 places.
- Which is the older name, Layton or Lee?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Layton and Lee?
- About 11,000 people named Layton are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 128,000 people named Lee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Laytons or Lees in the classroom?
- Layton will almost certainly be the only one in school. Lee 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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