Leightyn
A variant form of the English name Leighton derived from an Old English surname meaning "meadow settlement" or "town.
Name Census estimates that about 283 living Americans carry the first name Leightyn. It is a predominantly female name (98.2% of registrations). The average person named Leightyn today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Leightyn births was 2020 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Leightyn. 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
283
~ 1 in 1,211,146 Americans
Peak year
2020
29 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2020 SSA rank
#6,514
Tracked since 2009
Gender
Gender distribution for Leightyn
Leightyn leans heavily female at 98.2% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Leightyn as a male name
- Ranked #13,262 in 2020
- 5 male births in 2020
- Peak: 2020 (5 births)
Leightyn as a female name
- Ranked #6,514 in 2024
- 18 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (24 births)
Popularity
Leightyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Leightyn 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 174 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Leightyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Leightyn 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 Leightyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Leightyns live
Origin
Meaning and history of Leightyn
The name Leightyn has its origins in the ancient Germanic languages, with roots that can be traced back to the early medieval period. It is a variant spelling of the name Leighton, which itself is derived from the Old English words "leah" (meaning a meadow or clearing in a forest) and "tun" (meaning a settlement or enclosure).
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled as "Leitun" or "Leytun" and was commonly used as a place name to describe settlements that were established in clearings within forested areas. Over time, as the name transitioned from a place name to a personal name, the spelling evolved to its modern variants, including Leightyn.
While there are no definitive records of the name Leightyn appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is believed that the name gained popularity among the Anglo-Saxon populations of England during the 7th and 8th centuries. During this period, the name was likely used as a descriptive identifier for individuals hailing from or associated with settlements bearing the name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Leightyn can be found in the Domesday Book of 1086, which was a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation in England commissioned by William the Conqueror. The entry mentions a landowner named "Lehtun" in the county of Shropshire.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Leightyn or its variants. One such figure was Leighton Buzzard (c. 1285 - 1358), an English nobleman and landowner who was instrumental in the construction of St. Giles' Church in Leighton Buzzard, a town in Bedfordshire.
Another notable bearer of the name was Leighton Rees (1909 - 1989), a Welsh politician and Member of Parliament who served as the Secretary of State for Wales from 1964 to 1966.
In the realm of literature, Leighton Meester (1754 - 1823) was a Dutch poet and playwright known for his satirical works and contributions to the Dutch Enlightenment movement.
The name also found its way into the world of sports, with Leighton Baines (born 1984) being a prominent English professional football player who played as a left-back for Everton and the English national team.
Lastly, Leighton Ford (born 1927) is an American evangelist and author who served as the vice president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and was instrumental in organizing large-scale evangelistic events around the world.
People
Leightyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Leightyn 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
Leightyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Leightyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 283 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Leightyn 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 1,211,146 US residents.
Is Leightyn a common name?
We classify Leightyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 285 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Leightyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Leightyn was 2020, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Leightyn is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Leightyn a female name?
Yes, 98.2% of people registered as Leightyn 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.
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.