Layton
Masculine · “leek enclosure”
Layton is given to both — 12,156 boys and 1,171 girls since 1880. See Layton as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Layton began as a place: a couple of English villages, one in Lancashire and one in North Yorkshire, whose Old English name meant a plot where leeks were grown. From there it became a family name, and from there a first name, joining the ranks of Clayton, Dayton and Peyton. In the mouth it is two even beats, LAY-tun, with nothing in it a stranger has to ask about twice.
How old is the name Layton?
Layton was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Layton alive today was born around 2012, making them about 13 years old. About 11,000 people named Layton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Layton most popular?
Layton peaked in 2015, reaching #541 nationally. Today it ranks #710, 169 places below that high. See the whole 2015 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Old English lēac-tūn to Layton
The story of Layton
The name is locational: settlements called Layton in Lancashire and in North Yorkshire took their name from the Old English words for a leek-plot and an enclosed farmstead. English naming practice turned such places into surnames for the families who came from them, and Layton traveled to North America as a surname first. Its move to the front of the name has an American flavor — the long habit of promoting family names to given names, which also produced Clayton, Weston and Dayton. The city of Layton, Utah, keeps the surname use visible on the map.
Meaning
leek enclosure — a kitchen-garden settlement
From Old English lēac, 'leek' (used broadly for garden vegetables), plus tūn, 'enclosure, farmstead'. The same two words lie behind the spelling Leighton.
How the name formed
- Old English lēac-tūn
- LaytonEnglish place name
- LaytonEnglish surname
- Laytongiven name
Pronouncing Layton
LAY-tun
Stress on the first syllable. The second syllable is a soft, swallowed -tun, the same ending as in Clayton and Dayton. English speakers read it correctly on sight.
Nicknames for Layton
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
- 2015528 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #541reached in 2015
- Change vs 2022
- −13.7%377 in 2025, from 437
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.
Layton in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Florida, Georgia.
Laytons among us
people named Layton are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 4,531 born in 2025 was named Layton
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 Shelton test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Layton's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Shelton climbed just as high around 1937, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Shelton's path sketches the road Layton is walking now.
Layton 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 Layton is headed
Layton 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.
Layton beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Layton in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the way it sounds: LAY plus a familiar -ton ending, so it is read right the first time by almost anyone.
- Leighton is the older spelling of the same Old English name, and in the US it now goes mostly to girls. Expect occasional crossed wires when the name is heard rather than seen.
- It sits inside a crowded sound family — Clayton, Dayton, Peyton, Keaton — so it may be misheard as one of those, and spelling it out will become routine.
- The meaning is agricultural and homely rather than grand. Some parents like that plainness; it is worth knowing before someone else points it out.
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Layton
Masculine · #710 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Laytons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 11,000 people named Layton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Layton in 2025?
- Layton ranks #710 among US boy names in 2025, with 377 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Layton?
- About 1 in every 4,531 US boys born in 2025 was named Layton — 377 in all.
- Will my child share the name Layton with classmates?
- Layton will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Layton
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Aron#710 · Kenai#710 · Aarav#710 · Carmelo#710 · Julien#709 · Ozias#707 · Dennis#707 · Ryatt#715
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Layton? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Layton and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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