Ledger
A name derived from the Middle English word meaning record book.
Name Census estimates that about 4,406 living Americans carry the first name Ledger. It is a predominantly male name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Ledger today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ledger births was 2024 (611 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ledger. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ledger with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Ledger is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 7 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.4K
~ 1 in 77,793 Americans
Peak year
2024
611 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#502
Tracked since 1923
Census
Ledger in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,840 people with the first name Ledger, which placed it at #8,005 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
#8,005
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,840 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
86.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ledger
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ledger is White at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.4%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Ledger 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 Ledger at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White86.6% · 1,593
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 99
- Two or more races4.7% · 86
- Black or African American2.1% · 38
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Ledger
Out of the 4,455 babies given the name Ledger since 1880, 99.3% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Ledger as a male name
- Ranked #502 in 2024
- 606 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (606 births)
Ledger as a female name
- Ranked #16,584 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ledger leans strongly male. 1,817 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 20 female bearers (1.1%).
Popularity
Ledger: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ledger from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 2,544 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ledger 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 Ledger during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ledgers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 38 states and territories. Texas, Utah, California recorded the most babies named Ledger, while Maine, Maryland, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 93 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ledger
The name Ledger has its origins in the Old English language, dating back to the 5th century AD. It is derived from the Old English word "ledig," which means "cleared land" or "untilled soil." This suggests that the name may have been used to describe someone who lived or worked on cleared land, possibly a farmer or landowner.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ledger can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landholdings and wealth in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Ledgarus," likely a variation of the Old English "Ledig."
In the Middle Ages, the name Ledger was relatively uncommon but held some prominence. One notable bearer of the name was Ledger Picard (c. 1280-1343), a French clergyman and philosopher who taught at the University of Paris. He is known for his contributions to the development of nominalism, a philosophical theory that challenged the concept of universal essences.
During the Renaissance period, the name Ledger gained more popularity, particularly in England. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Sir Ledger Compton (1556-1619), an English politician and courtier who served as a member of Parliament and held various offices under Queen Elizabeth I and King James I.
In the 17th century, the name Ledger was associated with the English Civil War. Ledger Morris (1621-1676) was a Royalist officer who fought for King Charles I against the Parliamentarians. He was eventually captured and imprisoned after the Battle of Naseby in 1645.
Another notable bearer of the name Ledger was the English architect and engineer Ledger Delaney (1690-1756). He is best known for his work on the design and construction of several churches and public buildings in London, including the prestigious St. Martin-in-the-Fields church.
Throughout history, the name Ledger has been associated with various professions, from clergymen and philosophers to soldiers and architects. While it may have originated as a descriptive name for those who lived or worked on cleared land, it has evolved to become a unique and distinctive first name with a rich historical background.
People
Ledger + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ledger 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
Ledger: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ledger?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,406 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ledger 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 77,793 US residents.
Is Ledger a common name?
We classify Ledger as "Rare". It ranks above 96.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,455 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ledger most popular?
The single biggest year for Ledger was 2024, when 611 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ledger is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ledger in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,840 people with the name Ledger, or 0.61 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,005 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 Ledger 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 Ledger?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ledger leans strongly male. 1,817 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 20 female bearers (1.1%). 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 Ledger?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ledger is White at 86.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.4%) and Two or More Races (4.7%). 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 Ledger most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ledger in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.6% (1,593 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 Ledger in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ledger a male name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Ledger 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 Ledger still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ledger 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 Ledger 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 people have Ledger as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Ledger, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.