Llewellyn
Masculine · “Lion-like”
Llewellyn is given to both — 3,414 boys and 341 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Llewellyn is Welsh, and it begins with a sound English does not have: the Welsh ll is a voiceless lateral, made by putting the tongue where an l goes and blowing air past it. The name belonged to the last independent princes of Wales.
How old is the name Llewellyn?
Llewellyn was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Llewellyn alive today was born around 1942, making them about 83 years old. About 1,400 people named Llewellyn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Llewellyn most popular?
Llewellyn peaked in 1882, reaching #576 nationally. Today it ranks #5608, 5,032 places below that high. See the whole 1882 chart.
Where it comes from
From Llywelyn to Llewellyn
The story of Llewellyn
Llywelyn ab Iorwerth, called the Great, ruled Gwynedd from 1195 and made himself the dominant power in Wales; his grandson Llywelyn ap Gruffudd was recognized as Prince of Wales in 1267 and killed in 1282, which ended Welsh independence. Both are central to Welsh national memory. The name generated the surname Llewellyn and its English forms Lewellen and Fluellen — Shakespeare's Welsh captain in Henry V is a phonetic rendering of it. American records show Llewellyn with Welsh immigration to the coal and slate districts of Pennsylvania, peaking in 1882.
Meaningscholars disagree
Lion-like, or leader; contested
Welsh Llywelyn has no settled etymology. It is generally analyzed as containing llyw, a leader or ruler, with a second element that is not securely identified; an older reading connecting it to a Celtic root for a lion is now generally rejected. The double-l Llewellyn spelling is an English rendering. The gloss lion-like is traditional and not supported.
How the name formed
- Llywelyn
- Llewellyn
Related forms: Llywelyn · Lewellen · Fluellen
Pronouncing Llewellyn
loo-EL-in
Three syllables, stress in the middle, in English. The Welsh ll is a voiceless lateral fricative that English has no equivalent for; Welsh speakers say something closer to hlu-WEL-in.
Nicknames for Llewellyn
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
- 191764 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #576reached in 1882
- Change vs 2022
- +128.6%16 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.
Llewellyn in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Llywelyn in Welsh — same name
- Lewellen in English — spelling variant
- Fluellen in English — related form
Llewellyns among us
people named Llewellyn are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 106,755 born in 2025 was named Llewellyn
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Llewellyn
- #5608
- Llewellyn on the 2025 chart
- #895
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Llewellyn went to 16 boys in 2025, but Llewelyn is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 33, which makes it the 895th most-given boys’ name of the year — 4,713 places above the chart.
- Llewelyn17
- Llewellyn16
About 1 boy in 51,760 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 106,755 for Llewellyn itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Llewellyn 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
Llewellyn beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Llewellyn in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It carries the last independent princes of Wales.
- Llew and Lyn both work as short forms.
- It is unmistakably Welsh and genuinely so.
- The Welsh ll is not an English sound and will be flattened.
- Llewellyn, Llywelyn and Lewellen are three spellings of one name.
- The meaning is not settled and the lion gloss is not supported.
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Llewellyn
Masculine · #5608 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Llewellyns are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Llewellyn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Llewellyn?
- Llewellyn is one of 2 recorded spellings. Llewelyn is the more common one — 17 births in 2025 against 16 for Llewellyn.
- How popular is the name Llewellyn in 2025?
- Llewellyn ranks #5608 among US boy names in 2025, with 16 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Llewellyn?
- About 1 in every 106,755 US boys born in 2025 was named Llewellyn — 16 in all.
- Will my child share the name Llewellyn with classmates?
- Llewellyn will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Llewellyn
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rolland#5608 · Arlie#5608 · Gerrit#5608 · Vinson#5608 · Georgie#5608 · Wally#5608 · Berl#5608 · Webb#5608
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Llewellyn? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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