Livingston
Masculine · “Leving's settlement”
Livingston is given to both — 957 boys and 114 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Livingston is a Scottish village that became a family that became a name, and the village was founded by a foreigner. A Flemish settler called Leving was granted land in West Lothian in the twelfth century, the place became Leving's town, and everything since — the family, the New York manor, the streets, and now a small number of American children — descends from that one man's arrival.
How old is the name Livingston?
Livingston first appears in US birth records in 1890 — 135 years ago. The typical Livingston alive today was born around 1948, making them about 77 years old. About 500 people named Livingston are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Livingston most popular?
Livingston peaked in 1890, reaching #994 nationally. Today it ranks #12008, 11,014 places below that high. See the whole 1890 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Leving to Livingston
The story of Livingston
The Livingstons became one of the significant families of Scotland and then of colonial New York, where Livingston Manor covered a substantial piece of the Hudson Valley and members of the family signed the Declaration of Independence and administered the oath of office to the first president. That American history is why the name is thickly present on the map of the northeast and the South alike. Its use as a first name is very recent and belongs entirely to the current fashion for long surnames on small children — a fashion which, notably, has moved this one toward girls without settling it there.
Meaning
Leving's settlement
From the personal name Leving, of Flemish origin, and the Old English tun, a farmstead or settlement. It is a place name in the plainest way: someone held land, and the land took their name. The spelling with a final e, Livingstone, is a separate development of the same name and belongs to a different branch.
How the name formed
- Leving
- Levingston
- Livingston
Pronouncing Livingston
LIV-ing-stun
Three syllables, stress on the first, the last reduced almost to a hum. No English speaker hesitates over it, which is one of the advantages of a surname everyone has seen on a street sign.
Nicknames for Livingston
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
- 1890
- Most boys named
- 191729 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #994reached in 1890
- Change vs 2023
- −28.6%5 in 2025, from 7
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.
Livingstons among us
people named Livingston are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 341,615 born in 2025 was named Livingston
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
Livingston 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
Livingston beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Livingston in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is instantly readable and spellable, which long surnames often are not.
- It offers short forms with completely different characters, so a child has real choices.
- The history behind it is documented in detail, in Scotland and in America both.
- It works for a child of either sex, and the record currently shows it doing exactly that.
- Three syllables and ten letters is a great deal of name for a small person, and paperwork will feel it.
- It is constantly confused with Livingstone, the explorer's spelling, which is a different branch entirely.
- It is a very new first name with a very old surname behind it, so adults will read it as a last name first.
- It leans to girls without settling there, so assumptions will run in both directions and neither will be reliable.
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Livingston
Masculine · #12008 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Livingstons are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Livingston are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Livingston in 2025?
- Livingston ranks #12008 among US boy names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Livingston?
- About 1 in every 341,615 US boys born in 2025 was named Livingston — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Livingston with classmates?
- Livingston will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Livingston
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Garfield#12008 · Chas#12008 · Lew#12008 · Barney#12008 · Dewitt#12008 · Granville#12008 · Cicero#12008 · Willam#12008
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Livingston? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Livingston and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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