Locke
Masculine · “enclosure”
Locke is an enclosure or a stronghold — from the Old English loc, which gives the modern lock and the locks of a canal.
How old is the name Locke?
Locke first appears in US birth records in 1916 — 109 years ago. The typical Locke is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,000 people named Locke are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Locke most popular?
Locke peaked in 2016, reaching #1959 nationally. Today it ranks #2183, 224 places below that high. See the whole 2016 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From loc to Locke
The story of Locke
Loc named a fastening and an enclosed place alike, and the canal lock takes the same word for the same reason. John Locke's writing on government and toleration shaped the American founding directly. The surname entered American given-name use recently and appears in the registers in current use.
Meaning
enclosure, stronghold
From the Old English loc, 'enclosure', 'fold' or 'bolt', which gives the modern lock. The surname located a family by an enclosure or a barred gate. A separate Old English locc, 'a lock of hair', is unrelated. The etymology is documented.
How the name formed
- loc
- Locke
Related forms: Lock · Locks
Pronouncing Locke
LOK
One syllable. Locke and lock are homophones.
Nicknames for Locke
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
- 1916
- Most boys named
- 201674 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1959reached in 2016
- Change vs 2024
- +18.2%65 in 2025, from 55
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.
Locke in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lock in English — spelling variant
- Locks in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Utah.
Lockes among us
people named Locke are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 26,278 born in 2025 was named Locke
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 Jafet test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Locke's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jafet climbed just as high around 2001, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jafet's path sketches the road Locke is walking now.
Locke 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 Locke is headed
Locke 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.
Locke beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Locke in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That a canal lock and a door lock are the same word is a genuinely good etymology.
- John Locke is a first-rate bearer for an American family.
- One syllable, sharp, and never mispronounced.
- It is a homophone of an ordinary English noun.
- It reads unmistakably as a surname.
- It is very short and can be swallowed by a long surname.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Locke
Masculine · #2183 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lockes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Locke are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Locke in 2025?
- Locke ranks #2183 among US boy names in 2025, with 65 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Locke?
- About 1 in every 26,278 US boys born in 2025 was named Locke — 65 in all.
- Will my child share the name Locke with classmates?
- Locke will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Locke
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eastyn#2183 · Carsen#2183 · Cylas#2183 · Fynn#2183 · Lyndon#2183 · Chet#2183 · Buckley#2183 · Matheus#2183
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Locke? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Locke and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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