Lansing
Masculine
Lansing is the capital of Michigan, and the name behind it belonged to a New York judge with one of the strangest exits in American history. John Lansing Jr. walked out of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, and in 1829 he left his New York City hotel to post letters on the Albany boat and was never seen again.
How old is the name Lansing?
Lansing first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Lansing alive today was born around 1950, making them about 75 years old. About 200 people named Lansing are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lansing most popular?
Lansing peaked in 1952, reaching #1517 nationally. See the whole 1952 chart.
Where it comes from
From Lansing, Dutch family surname at Albany to Lansing
Our story of Lansing
A Dutch family name settles at Albany, and one of its sons becomes a judge who argues against the new Constitution and then vanishes one December evening in Manhattan. A town in upstate New York takes his name, and settlers from there carry it west to Michigan. When the legislature moves the state capital into the woods in 1847, the new town is first called Michigan, Michigan, and the next year it is renamed Lansing. Our story of Lansing is that relay: a name handed along from a man who disappeared to a city that says it every day.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Lansing is the surname of a Dutch family long settled at Albany, New York. What the name meant before it crossed the Atlantic is not established; its American history, by contrast, is well recorded.
How the name formed
- Lansing, Dutch family surname at Albany
- Lansing, New York
- Lansing, Michigan
- Lansing as a given name
Pronouncing Lansing
LAN-sing
Two syllables, stressed on the first, exactly as the city is said.
Nicknames for Lansing
Limited
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
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 195225 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1517reached in 1952
- Change vs 1999
- 0.0%5 in 2014, from 5
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.
Lansings among us
people named Lansing 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
Lansing 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
- Every American knows it as Michigan's capital, so it is rarely misheard or misspelled.
- Behind it stands a documented founding-era story: the judge who left the Constitutional Convention and later vanished.
- Lance comes ready as a short form.
- It is a city before it is a name, and people will ask about Michigan.
- The best-known Lansing is remembered for a disappearance that was never solved; it makes a good story rather than a namesake, and most people will not know it at all.
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Lansing
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Lansings are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Lansing are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lansing in 2025?
- Lansing is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Lansing with classmates?
- Lansing will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More L names
The most-given names starting with L, all years combined.
Larry#1084 · Lawrence#518 · Louis#249 · Logan#53 · Liam#1 · Lucas#10 · Luke#33 · Leonard#637
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lansing? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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