Lafayette
Masculine · “the beech grove”
Lafayette is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 4,861 boys against 21 girls since 1880.
Lafayette honors a Frenchman who paid his own way to fight in the American Revolution at nineteen, was wounded at Brandywine, and was made a major general.
How old is the name Lafayette?
Lafayette was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Lafayette alive today was born around 1945, making them about 80 years old. About 2,400 people named Lafayette are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lafayette most popular?
Lafayette peaked in 1886, reaching #325 nationally. Today it ranks #9714, 9,389 places below that high. See the whole 1886 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From fagus to Lafayette
The story of Lafayette
The Marquis de Lafayette arrived in America in 1777 at nineteen, served without pay, and became one of Washington's closest associates; his 1824 tour of the United States drew enormous crowds in every state. American families named sons for him and towns after him — there are Lafayettes in more than twenty states. The given name peaked around 1885.
Meaningscholars disagree
the beech grove
From the French la fayette, a diminutive of faye or fayer, 'beech tree' — so a small beech wood. The word descends from the Latin fagus. The reading is generally accepted, though the family's own name has been given other derivations.
How the name formed
- fagus
- la fayette
- Lafayette
Related forms: La Fayette · Lafayett
Pronouncing Lafayette
lah-fee-ET
Three syllables, stress on the third. French says la-fa-YET with a fuller middle vowel.
Nicknames for Lafayette
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
- 192186 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #325reached in 1886
- Change vs 2022
- −50.0%7 in 2025, from 14
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.
Lafayette in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- La Fayette in French — same name
- Lafayett in English — spelling variant
Lafayettes among us
people named Lafayette are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 244,011 born in 2025 was named Lafayette
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Lafayette 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
Lafayette beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lafayette in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented and genuinely admirable historical figure stands behind it.
- The beech-grove meaning is concrete and pleasant.
- Lafe and Fay are two short forms with their own records.
- Three syllables and a spelling that has to be dictated.
- The historical association is total.
- It is strongly period-coded to the nineteenth century.
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What they receive
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Lafayette
Masculine · #9714 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lafayettes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,400 people named Lafayette are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lafayette in 2025?
- Lafayette ranks #9714 among US boy names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lafayette?
- About 1 in every 244,011 US boys born in 2025 was named Lafayette — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lafayette with classmates?
- Lafayette will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lafayette
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vern#9714 · Abrahm#9714 · Sid#9714 · Hartwell#9714 · Kwan#9714 · Adrean#9714 · Chancey#9714 · Bob#9714
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lafayette? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lafayette and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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