Lewis
Masculine · “Famous warrior”
Lewis is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 155,766 boys against 870 girls since 1880. See Lewis as a girl name
Lewis is a surname, a first name, an island and a set of chess pieces carved from walrus ivory that were found in a sandbank and are still being argued over.
How old is the name Lewis?
Lewis was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Lewis alive today was born around 1939, making them about 86 years old. About 65,000 people named Lewis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lewis most popular?
Lewis peaked in 1880, reaching #30 nationally. Today it ranks #433, 403 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Where it comes from
From Hludwig to Lewis
The story of Lewis
Two things carry the name and neither is a person. The Lewis chessmen were found on a beach in the Hebrides in the eighteen-thirties — ninety-odd pieces of carved walrus ivory, probably made in Norway, with expressions on the faces that have made them the most recognizable medieval objects in Britain: queens with their hands to their cheeks, bishops looking tired, berserkers biting their shields. And the American explorer Meriwether Lewis kept one of the great journals of the continent and then stopped writing it for months at a stretch, with no explanation ever found — gaps that historians have been trying to account for since, because the surviving pages are so detailed that the silences look deliberate.
Meaning
Famous warrior
The name descends from a Germanic compound about fame and battle, by way of the French royal name. The Scottish island called Lewis is a completely separate word from a different language and has no connection to the personal name.
How the name formed
- Hludwig
- Louis
- Lewis
Related forms: Louis · Ludwig · Luis · Luigi
Pronouncing Lewis
LOO-iss
Two syllables, stress at the front. The English form sounds its final s; the French one does not.
Nicknames for Lewis
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
- 19212,712 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #30reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- +18.1%736 in 2025, from 623
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.
Lewis in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Louis in French — same name
- Ludwig in German — same name
- Luis in Spanish — same name
- Luigi in Italian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Minnesota. International figures from National Records of Scotland. Sources
Lewiss among us
people named Lewis are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 2,321 born in 2025 was named Lewis
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
Lewis has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Lewis is headed
Lewis should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Lewis beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lewis in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and the name is understood across Europe.
- It works equally as a first name and a surname, which few names do.
- It has short forms that are warm without being childish.
- Louis is the commoner spelling in many countries and the two are said differently.
- The spelling is recorded for both sexes, though the boys hold nearly all of it.
- It is a very common surname, which occasionally confuses a form.
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What they receive
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Lewis
Masculine · #433 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lewiss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 65,000 people named Lewis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lewis in 2025?
- Lewis ranks #433 among US boy names in 2025, with 736 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lewis?
- About 1 in every 2,321 US boys born in 2025 was named Lewis — 736 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lewis with classmates?
- Lewis will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lewis
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Raiden#432 · Travis#434 · Frederick#435 · Moshe#435 · Nehemiah#429 · Wilder#429 · Malik#437 · Pablo#429
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lewis? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lewis and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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