Vaughn
Feminine · “Small”
Vaughn is given to both — 1,120 girls and 21,364 boys since 1880. See Vaughn as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Vaughn is the Welsh word for small, and it was originally a way of telling two men apart: put fychan after a name and it means the younger of the two, the Welsh equivalent of junior. Its American use for girls peaked in 1901.
How old is the name Vaughn?
Vaughn first appears in US birth records in 1901 — 124 years ago. The typical Vaughn alive today was born around 1964, making them about 61 years old. About 800 people named Vaughn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Vaughn most popular?
Vaughn peaked in 1901, reaching #1339 nationally. Today it ranks #5722, 4,383 places below that high. See the whole 1901 chart.
Where it comes from
From bychan to Vaughn
The story of Vaughn
Welsh naming used epithets rather than fixed surnames for centuries, and fychan was one of the commonest — Owain Fychan is Owain the younger. When fixed surnames were imposed, the epithet became Vaughan. The metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan and the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams carry it. In America the surname became a given name for both sexes in the nineteenth century, and the girls' use peaked in 1901, in the same period that gave daughters Warren, Leo and Sidney; the boys' use lasted much longer and was helped by the bandleader Vaughn Monroe.
Meaning
Small, little, the younger
From Welsh bychan, small, in its mutated form fychan, which is what follows a personal name in Welsh. The reading is settled. It functioned as an epithet distinguishing a younger man from an older of the same name, and became a surname; the English spellings Vaughan and Vaughn represent the Welsh fychan, where f is a v sound and ch is a throat fricative.
How the name formed
- bychan
- Fychan
- Vaughan
- Vaughn
Related forms: Fychan · Vaughan
Pronouncing Vaughn
VAWN
One syllable, rhyming with lawn. The gh is entirely silent. Welsh fychan is closer to VUKH-an with two syllables and a throat fricative, which is a different word to the ear.
Nicknames for Vaughn
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
- 1901
- Most girls named
- 202124 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1339reached in 1901
- Change vs 2023
- +23.5%21 in 2025, from 17
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.
Vaughn in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Fychan in Welsh — related form
- Vaughan in English — spelling variant
Vaughns among us
people named Vaughn are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 76,537 born in 2025 was named Vaughn
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
Vaughn 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
Vaughn beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Vaughn in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The Welsh meaning is settled and unusually specific.
- One syllable and six letters keep it compact in speech.
- It has a documented Welsh and English history.
- It is overwhelmingly a boy's name in American use.
- The gh is silent and the name will be misspelled by strangers.
- Vaughn and Vaughan are two spellings of one sound.
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What they receive
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Vaughn
Feminine · #5722 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Vaughns are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Vaughn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Vaughn in 2025?
- Vaughn ranks #5722 among US girl names in 2025, with 21 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Vaughn?
- About 1 in every 76,537 US girls born in 2025 was named Vaughn — 21 in all.
- Will my child share the name Vaughn with classmates?
- Vaughn will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Vaughn
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rosina#5722 · Delores#5722 · Roseline#5722 · Loyal#5722 · Missy#5722 · Danitza#5722 · Jameson#5722 · Margret#5722
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Vaughn? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Vaughn and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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