Ladd
Masculine · “young man”
Ladd is the English word lad as a surname — and the word's own origin is one of the genuine puzzles of English, with no convincing relatives anywhere.
How old is the name Ladd?
Ladd first appears in US birth records in 1915 — 110 years ago. The typical Ladd alive today was born around 1970, making them about 55 years old. About 1,000 people named Ladd are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ladd most popular?
Ladd peaked in 1967, reaching #1231 nationally. Today it ranks #4050, 2,819 places below that high. See the whole 1967 chart.
Where it comes from
From ladde to Ladd
The story of Ladd
Ladde meant a serving man before it meant a boy, and the shift to the friendly modern sense took centuries. Its origin is genuinely unknown — the standard dictionaries record it as obscure, which they do not often do for such an ordinary word. The surname was occupational or a byname. Its use as a given name appears in American records around 1930, probably after an actor of that surname.
Meaning
young man, servant
From Middle English ladde, a servant or a young man of low rank; the word appears in the thirteenth century with no clear ancestry in Old English or Norse, which is unusual for a word this common.
How the name formed
- ladde
- Ladd
Related forms: Lad
Pronouncing Ladd
LAD
One syllable. There is no variation in English.
Nicknames for Ladd
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
- 1915
- Most boys named
- 195832 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1231reached in 1967
- Change vs 2023
- +36.8%26 in 2025, from 19
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.
Ladd in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lad in English — spelling variant
Ladds among us
people named Ladd are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 65,695 born in 2025 was named Ladd
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Jearld test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ladd's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jearld climbed just as high around 1941, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jearld's path sketches the road Ladd is walking now.
Ladd 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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Ladd is headed
Ladd should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Ladd beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ladd in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters and one syllable — as short as a name gets.
- An ordinary English word, so nobody has to be taught to say it.
- The word's unexplained origin is genuinely interesting.
- It is an ordinary English noun for a boy, which he will grow out of.
- It reads as a surname to people meeting it in front of another one.
- A one-syllable name gives no room for a nickname.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Ladd to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Ladd
Masculine · #4050 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ladds are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Ladd are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ladd in 2025?
- Ladd ranks #4050 among US boy names in 2025, with 26 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ladd?
- About 1 in every 65,695 US boys born in 2025 was named Ladd — 26 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ladd with classmates?
- Ladd will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ladd
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Myer#4050 · Hewitt#4050 · Antonino#4050 · Egan#4050 · Johnmichael#4050 · Gauge#4050 · Emran#4050 · Freeman#4050
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ladd? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ladd and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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