Legrand
Masculine · “the tall”
Legrand is French le grand, 'the tall' or 'the great', and in American literature it belongs to a code-breaker. William Legrand is the hero of Edgar Allan Poe's story 'The Gold-Bug' (1843), who reads a pirate's cipher by counting which symbols appear most often and follows it to buried treasure on Sullivan's Island.
How old is the name Legrand?
Legrand first appears in US birth records in 1897 — 128 years ago. The typical Legrand alive today was born around 1935, making them about 90 years old. About 200 people named Legrand are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Legrand most popular?
Legrand peaked in 1897, reaching #1057 nationally. See the whole 1897 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From French grand, 'tall, great' to Legrand
The story of Legrand
Legrand began as a nickname in medieval France and hardened into a family name. Poe made his Legrand the last of an old Huguenot family, reduced by misfortune to a hut on a South Carolina island, and the story won a Philadelphia newspaper's prize contest and a wide readership in Poe's own lifetime. As a first name the spelling has a real record of its own: LeGrand Richards, who wrote it with a capital G, served the Latter-day Saints as Presiding Bishop and then for three decades as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Meaning
the tall, the great
A French nickname surname from le grand, first given to a tall man or a senior one. The same nickname, in its Norman French form, gave English the surname Grant.
How the name formed
- French grand, 'tall, great'
- le grand, a nickname
- Legrand, French surname
- Legrand or LeGrand as a given name
Related forms: Legrand · Grant
Pronouncing Legrand
luh-GRAND
Americans usually say luh-GRAND and sound the final d; in French it ends in a nasal vowel, luh-GRAHN.
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
- 1897
- Most boys named
- 191816 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1057reached in 1897
- Change vs 1991
- 0.0%5 in 2002, 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.
Legrand in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Legrand in French — same name
- Grant in English — related form
Legrands among us
people named Legrand 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
Legrand 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
- A clear meaning, 'the tall' or 'the great', that any French speaker recognizes.
- A literary namesake in Poe's code-breaking hero, William Legrand.
- An established first-name use, written LeGrand, with a notable twentieth-century bearer.
- People will not know whether to write Legrand or LeGrand; choose one and expect to repeat it.
- 'The great' can sound like a boast to English ears, though French speakers hear an ordinary surname.
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Legrand
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Legrands 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 Legrand are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Legrand in 2025?
- Legrand is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Legrand with classmates?
- Legrand 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 Legrand? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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