Loney
Masculine
Loney is given to both — 505 boys and 280 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Loney is a short, old American name recorded for boys and for girls, with the friendly -ey ending of Joey and Casey. It can rhyme with pony or with bonnie, and the spelling alone does not settle which.
How old is the name Loney?
Loney first appears in US birth records in 1883 — 142 years ago. The typical Loney alive today was born around 1927, making them about 98 years old. About 100 people named Loney are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Loney most popular?
Loney peaked in 1886, reaching #845 nationally. See the whole 1886 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Loney
Our story of Loney is about a name made for everyday use. Two syllables and an easy ending, it is the kind of name that appears when a long name is too much for the kitchen and the family keeps the part it actually says. Whether it rhymed with pony or with bonnie in a given house, the spelling could carry either, and it went to sons and to daughters without changing a letter. What survives in the record is the short form itself, handed down without its explanation.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No full name has been documented behind Loney. It looks like a pet form, and it sits close to Lonnie, a familiar American short form, but the record holds only this spelling, for boys and for girls alike, and says nothing about what it shortened.
Pronouncing Loney
Two sayings are both natural: LOH-nee, rhyming with pony, and LON-ee, like Lonnie. The spelling fixes neither, so it is worth deciding and giving the sound with the name.
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
- 1883
- Most boys named
- 191920 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #845reached in 1886
- Change vs 1974
- −16.7%5 in 1987, from 6
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.
Loneys among us
people named Loney 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
Loney 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
- Short and friendly, with two syllables and an easy ending.
- Recorded for both boys and girls, so it serves either.
- Close to Lonnie, so it sounds familiar on first hearing.
- It is one letter short of lonely, and that is the tease most likely to follow it; the rhyme with baloney is the other.
- People will read it two ways, LOH-nee and LON-ee, so the chosen sound will need repeating.
- The record leans to boys, so a girl named Loney is the rarer case, and forms may guess wrong; a single correction usually settles it.
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Loney
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Loneys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Loney are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Loney in 2025?
- Loney is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Loney with classmates?
- Loney 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 Loney? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Loney and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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