Laken
Feminine
Laken is given to both — 6,240 girls and 2,259 boys since 1880. See Laken as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Laken is a modern American name, with no medieval saints or royal lines behind it — and it doesn't pretend to have any. What it has instead is a clear, easy shape: two beats, ending like taken and bacon, read right by most English speakers on the first try. It has been strongest in Texas, Tennessee and the Carolinas, and it carries Lake inside it for anyone who wants a shorter way to call it.
How old is the name Laken?
Laken first appears in US birth records in 1984 — 41 years ago. The typical Laken alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 6,200 people named Laken are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Laken most popular?
Laken peaked in 1991, reaching #860 nationally. Today it ranks #987, 127 places below that high. See the whole 1991 chart.
Laken appears on this list:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Laken
The pieces are all real, and they all sit close together. English families have carried the surname Lakin for centuries, from Lawkin, an old pet form of Lawrence. English has the word lake, which has quietly become a first name of its own in America. And the -en ending runs through a whole generation of names born in the United States rather than inherited from Europe. Laken stands where those three roads meet, and it took hold first in the South — Texas, Tennessee, the Carolinas — which is where a great many American surname-names have started their lives. Nothing in the record says which road it actually traveled, so the honest pleasure is in seeing all three.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No origin has been established for Laken as a given name, and no dictionary meaning attaches to it. What is documented is the company it keeps: Lakin is a genuine English surname, from Lawkin, a medieval pet form of Lawrence; lake is a plain English word; and -en is the ending shared by a whole family of recent American names. Which of those produced Laken, nobody has settled.
Pronouncing Laken
LAY-ken
Two syllables, rhyming with taken. Stress on the first. Most English speakers say it correctly on sight; the trouble comes in writing it, not saying it.
Nicknames for Laken
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
- 1984
- Most girls named
- 2025256 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #860reached in 1991
- Change vs 2024
- +32.6%256 in 2025, from 193
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.
Laken in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina.
Lakens among us
people named Laken are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 6,278 born in 2025 was named Laken
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 Linette test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Laken's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Linette climbed just as high around 1970, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Linette's path sketches the road Laken is walking now.
Laken is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Laken is headed
Laken 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.
Laken beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Laken in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Pronounced correctly on first sight by most English speakers — the spelling and the sound match with no explaining required.
- Comes with a ready-made short form, Lake, which already stands on its own as an American given name.
- Works unchanged for a boy or a girl, with no feminine or masculine variant to choose between.
- Two syllables ending in -n, which sits easily in front of most surnames.
- Familiar in sound without being widespread — recognizable, rarely duplicated.
- Expect to spell it. Laken competes with Lakyn, Laiken, Lakin and Laykn, and people who hear it will not know which one you chose.
- There is no meaning to offer when someone asks. If a documented translation matters to you, this name cannot give you one.
- It leans to girls in American records without settling there, so a boy named Laken may be read as a girl on a class list or a form before anyone meets him.
- The name has had a stretch of national news exposure in the United States in recent years, including a piece of federal legislation that carries it. Some adults will make that association for a while; children almost certainly will not.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Laken
Feminine · #987 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lakens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 6,200 people named Laken are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Laken in 2025?
- Laken ranks #987 among US girl names in 2025, with 256 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Laken?
- About 1 in every 6,278 US girls born in 2025 was named Laken — 256 in all.
- Will my child share the name Laken with classmates?
- Laken will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Laken
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lisa#987 · Adalee#987 · Addilyn#987 · Karter#987 · Akira#983 · Arely#983 · Kamiyah#983 · Skyla#983
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Laken? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Laken and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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