Fleming
Masculine · “a man from Flanders”
Fleming means a man from Flanders, and the reason there are so many of them in English and Scottish records is wool. Flemish weavers were brought to Britain in numbers from the twelfth century onwards because they knew how to turn English wool into cloth, and the surname is what their neighbors called them.
How old is the name Fleming?
Fleming was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Fleming alive today was born around 1929, making them about 96 years old. About 300 people named Fleming are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Fleming most popular?
Fleming peaked in 1883, reaching #644 nationally. See the whole 1883 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Flemish weavers settle in Britain from the twelfth century to Fleming
The story of Fleming
The most consequential Fleming left a dish uncovered. Alexander Fleming came back from holiday in 1928 to a laboratory bench of stacked culture plates, noticed that one had been contaminated by a mold and that the bacteria around the mold had died, and worked out what he was looking at. He published, could not purify the substance in any useful quantity, and moved on. Ten years later a team in Oxford took the paper off the shelf, solved the chemistry, and turned it into a drug — which is why the prize was shared three ways and why the story about the dirty plate is only the first act.
Meaning
a man from Flanders
The surname belongs to the class that names where somebody came from, and it is unusually specific: not a village but a country. Flemish settlement in Britain was substantial and organized — weavers in the towns, and whole colonies planted in Pembrokeshire and in Scotland by kings who wanted the trade. The name went to America with Ulster Scots families in particular, and became a first name there in the nineteenth century.
How the name formed
- Flemish weavers settle in Britain from the twelfth century
- Fleming becomes a surname meaning a man from Flanders
- the name travels to America with Ulster Scots families
- used as a first name from before 1880
- a bacteriologist notices a contaminated plate in 1928
Related forms: Vlaming · Flemming
Pronouncing Fleming
FLEM-ing
Two syllables, stress at the front. There is no competing reading in English.
Nicknames for Fleming
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 191727 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #644reached in 1883
- Change vs 1980
- −28.6%5 in 2006, from 7
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Fleming in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Vlaming in Dutch — related form
- Flemming in English — spelling variant
Flemings among us
people named Fleming are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Fleming sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is read correctly at sight and holds no spelling difficulties.
- It has a specific and well-documented history in one word.
- It carries two very famous namesakes in completely different fields.
- The obvious short form is close to an unappealing English word.
- It reads unmistakably as a surname and some people will treat it as one.
- It has been out of use as a first name for three generations.
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Fleming
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Flemings are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 300 people named Fleming are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Fleming in 2025?
- Fleming is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Fleming with classmates?
- Fleming will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More F names
The most-given names starting with F, all years combined.
Frank#513 · Fred#1932 · Francis#420 · Frederick#435 · Floyd#2230 · Francisco#322 · Franklin#359 · Fernando#387
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Fleming? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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