Loy
Feminine · “chosen”
Loy is given to both — 872 girls and 4,111 boys since 1880. See Loy as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Loy is a single syllable with several possible parents, and the oldest of them is a saint. In Chaucer's General Prologue the Prioress's strongest oath is by Seinte Loy, Loy being the English form of Eligius, a goldsmith who became a bishop and the patron of everyone who works metal.
How old is the name Loy?
Loy first appears in US birth records in 1895 — 130 years ago. The typical Loy alive today was born around 1940, making them about 85 years old. About 400 people named Loy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Loy most popular?
Loy peaked in 1940, reaching #1404 nationally. See the whole 1940 chart.
Where it comes from
From Eligius to Loy
The story of Loy
Eligius was a seventh-century goldsmith at the Frankish court who became bishop of Noyon, and his cult spread across northern Europe: he is the patron of smiths, farriers and jewellers, and by extension of anyone who works on horses, and later on engines. English shortened the name to Loy, and it survived in oaths long after it had stopped being given to children, which is how Chaucer's Prioress comes to swear by it. The American Loys are harder to trace. Some descend from Eligius, some are Lloyd, Eloy or Leroy cut short, some are a surname moved to the front. The name entered the record early and never grew large.
Meaningscholars disagree
chosen, if the name is read as a form of Eligius
Loy has more than one possible source. As the English form of Eligius it means chosen, from the Latin eligere. It is also used as a short form of Lloyd, Eloy and Leroy, and as an English and Irish surname, and nothing in the American record says which of these a given family had in mind.
How the name formed
- Eligius
- Eloi
- Loy
Related forms: Eloi · Eloy · Eligio · Eligius
Pronouncing Loy
LOY
One syllable, rhyming with boy. The French Eloi is said ay-LWAH and the Spanish Eloy eh-LOY, so the shortened English form is the easiest of the three by some distance.
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
- 1895
- Most girls named
- 194029 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1404reached in 1940
- Change vs 1973
- −16.7%5 in 1974, 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.
Loy in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Eloi in French — same name
- Eloy in Spanish — same name
- Eligio in Italian — related form
- Eligius in Latin — same name
Loys among us
people named Loy 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
Loy 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
- One syllable and three letters, with no possible mispronunciation.
- It works as a middle name without crowding whatever sits on either side of it.
- It has a documented medieval history in English, which is rare for a name this short.
- It is recorded for girls as well as boys, and the sound gives a reader no signal either way.
- Its origin is genuinely unsettled, so a family cannot be told with any confidence where their Loy came from.
- Three letters can be taken for an initial or an abbreviation on a form.
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What they receive
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Loy
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Loys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Loy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Loy in 2025?
- Loy is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Loy with classmates?
- Loy will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More L names
The most-given names starting with L, all years combined.
Linda#902 · Lisa#987 · Laura#379 · Lauren#401 · Lillian#57 · Lori#1721 · Louise#514 · Lois#1666
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Loy? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Loy and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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