Lucy
Masculine · “Latin lux”
Lucy is given to girls far more often — 236,969 girls against 644 boys since 1880. See Lucy as a girl name
There is a male Lucy and it is not simply an error. Luce is a genuine English surname and given name, from Latin lux, and the Norman family de Luci took their name from a place in Normandy. When a surname of that kind is given to a son, it can be recorded in whichever spelling the clerk knew.
How old is the name Lucy?
Lucy first appears in US birth records in 1881 — 144 years ago. The typical Lucy alive today was born around 1928, making them about 97 years old. About 200 people named Lucy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lucy most popular?
Lucy peaked in 1901, reaching #779 nationally. Today it ranks #8910, 8,131 places below that high. See the whole 1901 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From lux to Lucy
The story of Lucy
Names that appear under the unexpected sex in the American data have three causes and they are worth separating. The first is genuine cross-sex use, which is common with surnames and unisex forms and leaves a broad, gradual curve. The second is a family surname passed to a son as a first name, which produces a small steady number over decades rather than a peak. The third is clerical: the sex recorded on a Social Security application is the sex in the data forever, and nothing in the published statistics corrects it. Distinguishing them requires the shape of the curve rather than the name. A male Lucy peaking at more than seven hundredth in 1901 is too large to be transcription alone, which points at the Luce and de Luci surnames rather than at the women's name that shares the spelling.
Meaningscholars disagree
Latin lux, light
The male entries most likely represent Luce or Lucey, English surnames from Latin lux, light, through the personal name Lucius or through a Norman place name. Some are the mother's maiden name given as a first name, a well-attested American practice. A share of any such row is transcription: the Social Security record preserves the sex on the application, so a clerk's slip is permanent and unfixable. The peak is 1901.
How the name formed
- lux
- Lucius
- Luce
- Lucy
Related forms: Luce · Lucius
Pronouncing Lucy
LOO-see
Two syllables, stress on the first. The surname Luce is one syllable, loos, and the given name is two.
Nicknames for Lucy
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
- 1881
- Most boys named
- 192422 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #779reached in 1901
- Change vs 2022
- +60.0%8 in 2025, from 5
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.
Lucy in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Luce in English — related form
- Lucius in Latin — related form
Lucys among us
people named Lucy are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 213,510 born in 2025 was named Lucy
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
Lucy 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
Lucy beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Lucy in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The underlying surname has a documented Norman history.
- Two syllables and four letters, with no ambiguity in the sounds.
- The Latin root behind it is one of the clearest in naming.
- The spelling is overwhelmingly read as a woman's name.
- The 1901 peak places it well over a century ago.
- Luce is the spelling that carries the male history.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Lucy to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
Already decided on Lucy? Hide it among decoys and let them guess.
What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Lucy
Masculine · #8910 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Lucys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Lucy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lucy in 2025?
- Lucy ranks #8910 among US boy names in 2025, with 8 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Lucy?
- About 1 in every 213,510 US boys born in 2025 was named Lucy — 8 in all.
- Will my child share the name Lucy with classmates?
- Lucy will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Lucy
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Davie#8910 · Ned#8910 · Darious#8910 · Alois#8910 · Len#8910 · Barton#8910 · Desmon#8910 · Winfield#8910
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lucy? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Lucy and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
Compare side by sideIn a hurry? Just pick a winner — one tap, no sign-up, and you see how everyone else voted.
Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
No advertising trackers and no data sellinghow we handle your dataindependent and founder-run, about Name Battle