Laykin
Laykin is a unique and modern name without a confirmed meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 602 living Americans carry the first name Laykin. It is a predominantly female name (90.1% of registrations). The average person named Laykin today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Laykin births was 2017 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Laykin. 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
602
~ 1 in 569,359 Americans
Peak year
2017
42 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2022 SSA rank
#6,686
Tracked since 1991
Census
Laykin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 491 people with the first name Laykin, which placed it at #20,884 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#20,884
National first-name rank
People counted
491
491 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
85.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Laykin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Laykin is White at 85.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.9%) and Black (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Laykin described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Laykin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White85.3% · 419
- Two or more races6.9% · 34
- Black or African American4.1% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Laykin
Laykin leans heavily female at 90.1% of total registrations, but 60 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Laykin as a male name
- Ranked #6,686 in 2022
- 13 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2022 (13 births)
Laykin as a female name
- Ranked #7,777 in 2024
- 14 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (37 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Laykin leans strongly female. 418 people counted with this name were female (85.7%), compared with 70 male bearers (14.3%).
Popularity
Laykin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Laykin from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 280 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Laykin remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Laykin 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 Laykin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Laykins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Kentucky, Texas, West Virginia recorded the most babies named Laykin, while West Virginia, Texas, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Laykin
The name Laykin is an anglicized form of the Irish Gaelic name Laighin, which originated in the medieval period. Laighin was derived from the Old Irish word Laigin, referring to the ancient Irish kingdom and people of Leinster, one of the five provincial kingdoms of Ireland.
The name Laigin itself can be traced back to the Gaulish Celtic word "Laginon," meaning "spear-bearer" or "warrior." This reflects the warlike nature of the Leinster people, who were renowned for their military prowess and resistance against outside forces throughout Irish history.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Laykin can be found in the 12th-century Annals of Inisfallen, which documented the lives and deeds of Irish kings and chieftains. The annals mention a King Laighin mac Colmáin, who ruled over the Kingdom of Leinster in the 8th century.
In the 13th century, the name appeared in the form "Lagenia" in the Latin text Topographia Hibernica, written by the Norman-Welsh author Gerald of Wales. This work provided a detailed account of Ireland's geography, history, and people during the Norman invasion of Ireland.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Laykin was Laykin O'Toole, a 14th-century Irish chieftain and leader of the O'Toole clan in County Wicklow. He was known for his fierce resistance against the Norman colonization of Ireland and his defense of the ancient Gaelic traditions.
Another prominent individual with this name was Laykin O'Byrne, a 16th-century Irish lord and chieftain of the O'Byrne clan in County Wicklow. He played a significant role in the Gaelic Irish uprising against English rule during the Nine Years' War (1594-1603).
In the 17th century, the name Laykin was also recorded in the form "Loughlin" or "Loughlin O'Clery," referring to the renowned Irish historian and chronicler who played a crucial role in preserving and compiling Irish annals and historical manuscripts.
Other notable figures bearing the name include Laykin O'Daly, a 15th-century Irish poet and bard renowned for his compositions in the Irish language, and Laykin O'Murchadha, a 12th-century Irish king of Leinster who fought against the Norman invaders.
People
Laykin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Laykin 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
Laykin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Laykin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 602 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Laykin 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 569,359 US residents.
Is Laykin a common name?
We classify Laykin as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 609 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Laykin most popular?
The single biggest year for Laykin was 2017, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Laykin is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Laykin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 491 people with the name Laykin, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,884 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Laykin in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Laykin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Laykin leans strongly female. 418 people counted with this name were female (85.7%), compared with 70 male bearers (14.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Laykin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Laykin is White at 85.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (6.9%) and Black (4.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Laykin most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Laykin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 85.3% (419 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Laykin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Laykin a female name?
Yes, 90.1% of people registered as Laykin in the SSA data are female. 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 Laykin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Laykin 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 Laykin 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.
How many Americans are named Laykin?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.