Legion
A masculine name from Latin meaning "army" or "group of soldiers".
Name Census estimates that about 350 living Americans carry the first name Legion. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Legion today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Legion births was 2021 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Legion. 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
350
~ 1 in 979,298 Americans
Peak year
2021
27 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,508
Tracked since 2003
Popularity
Legion: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Legion 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 211 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Legion remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Legion 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 Legion during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Legions live
Origin
Meaning and history of Legion
The name Legion has its origins in the Latin word "legio," which was used to refer to a military unit or body of soldiers in ancient Roman times. This name is intrinsically linked to the concept of a group or collective, reflecting the organized nature of Roman legions.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Legion can be found in the Bible's New Testament, specifically in the Gospel of Mark. In this account, Jesus encounters a man possessed by many demons, who refer to themselves collectively as "Legion." This biblical reference has contributed to the name's association with multitudes or large numbers.
Throughout history, the name Legion has been borne by notable individuals, albeit relatively few. One such person was Legion of Patara, a Christian priest and martyr who lived in the 3rd century AD. He was executed during the Diocletian persecution for refusing to renounce his faith.
Another historical figure with this name was Legion Theban, a soldier and martyr from the Theban Legion, a legendary unit of Christian soldiers who were said to have been massacred near Saint-Maurice, Switzerland, in the late 3rd century for refusing to make pagan sacrifices.
In the realm of literature, Legion was the name of a character in Robert Browning's 19th-century poem "The Heretic's Tragedy." This fictional character represented the embodiment of religious dissent and rebellion against established beliefs.
One of the more recent individuals to bear the name Legion was Legion Wally Grinduskie, a Native American artist and activist from the Cowlitz tribe, who lived from 1945 to 2008. He was known for his efforts in advocating for the recognition and preservation of Native American culture and traditions.
Despite its historical and literary references, the name Legion has remained relatively uncommon as a given name throughout history. Its strong associations with military units, demonic possession, and multitudes have likely contributed to its limited usage as a personal name.
People
Legion + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Legion 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
Legion: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Legion?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 350 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Legion 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 979,298 US residents.
Is Legion a common name?
We classify Legion as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 353 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Legion most popular?
The single biggest year for Legion was 2021, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Legion is about 10 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 Legion in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Legion a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Legion 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 Legion still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Legion 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 Legion 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 common is the name Legion?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.