Laydon
A diminutive of the English name Leighton, derived from a place name.
Name Census estimates that about 114 living Americans carry the first name Laydon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Laydon today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Laydon births was 2012 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Laydon. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
114
~ 1 in 3,006,617 Americans
Peak year
2012
12 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,738
Tracked since 2005
Popularity
Laydon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Laydon from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 67 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Laydon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Laydon by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Laydon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Laydon
The name Laydon has its origins in the ancient Celtic languages, specifically tracing back to the Brittonic branch spoken in what is now modern-day Wales and parts of England. It is believed to have derived from the Proto-Celtic root *ləg-yo-n-, which meant "to throw" or "to strike." This suggests that the name may have initially been associated with warriors, hunters, or those skilled in combat.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Laydon can be found in the Annales Cambriae, a medieval chronicle detailing the history of the Welsh people. The text mentions a figure named "Laydon ap Rhys" who lived in the late 12th century and was involved in a notable conflict between Welsh princes.
In the 14th century, a renowned Welsh poet and bard named Laydon Goch flourished. His works, while not widely preserved, were celebrated for their artistic merit and their celebration of Welsh culture and language. He is believed to have been born around 1320 and lived into the late 1300s.
During the Tudor period in England, a minor nobleman named Laydon Ap Tudor held lands in Monmouthshire. Though not a direct descendant of the royal House of Tudor, he was distantly related and served as a loyal supporter of King Henry VIII in the early 16th century.
In more recent centuries, the name Laydon has been relatively rare, but a few notable individuals have borne it. Laydon Everett was a British explorer and naturalist who traveled extensively in South America in the early 1800s, documenting numerous new species of plants and animals.
Another significant figure was Laydon Wells, an American civil rights activist and educator who played a crucial role in desegregating schools in the southern United States during the 1960s. He was born in 1925 and passed away in 2001, leaving behind a lasting legacy in the fight for equality and social justice.
People
Laydon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Laydon as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Laydon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Laydon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 114 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Laydon going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 3,006,617 US residents.
Is Laydon a common name?
We classify Laydon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 115 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Laydon most popular?
The single biggest year for Laydon was 2012, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Laydon is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Laydon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Laydon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Laydon in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Laydon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Laydon in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Laydon can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Laydon?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Laydon on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.