boy's name
Layton
LAY-ton
- Origin English
- Gender Boy
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 19,515
the United States
#712
2025 births
Layton is a boy's name from an English place name meaning "leek farm," and the vegetable is doing the work rather than any grander sense. It ranks 146th in Scotland and 712th in the United States.
- Layton is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 2015, when 585 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 7,099 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Layton over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 10 |
| 1890s | 13 |
| 1900s | 32 |
| 1910s | 267 |
| 1920s | 381 |
| 1930s | 325 |
| 1940s | 337 |
| 1950s | 291 |
| 1960s | 244 |
| 1970s | 196 |
| 1980s | 318 |
| 1990s | 930 |
| 2000s | 2,442 |
| 2010s | 4,480 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 3,061 |
What Layton means
Layton means leek farm, or leek enclosure, from the Old English leac, a leek or vegetable generally, and tun, a farmstead. It is agricultural, and the leac element covered kitchen plants rather than the leek alone.
Where Layton comes from
Layton is an English surname from places called Layton or Leighton, from the Old English leac, a leek or garden plant, and tun, an enclosure or farmstead — so a market garden. The leac element survives in leek and in garlic, which is gar-leac, spear-leek. Several Leightons exist across England; Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire adds the surname of the medieval prebendary Buzzard, which is why it sounds like a bird and is not one. Layton's use as a given name is recent and follows the surname-as-forename pattern that produced Mason, Carter and Cooper. It is unrelated to Leyton in east London, which shares an etymology but not the naming trend, and to Peyton and Clayton, which are separate surnames on the same -ton pattern.
Layton in use
Layton ranks 146th in Scotland with 32 births in 2024 and 712th in the United States with 467 births, and it is rising in our data with a peak in 2015. Our records carry it from 1880. It holds 575th in England and Wales. Leighton is counted separately in every register and is the older spelling of the same place name.
How popular is Layton?
In 2025, Layton was given to 467 babies in the United States, ranking #712 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Layton is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Layton
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Layton also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Layton over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Layton in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Layton
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Layton — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Layton
What does the name Layton mean?
Layton means "leek farm," from the Old English leac, a garden plant, and tun, a farmstead.
Is garlic related?
Yes — garlic is gar-leac, spear-leek, using the same Old English element.
Is Layton the same as Leighton?
Same place name, two spellings. Leighton is the older form and is counted separately.
How popular is Layton?
146th in Scotland and 712th in the United States.
Is Layton a girl's or a boy's name?
Layton is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
How many syllables are in Layton?
Layton has 2 syllables.
Is Layton a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Layton currently ranks #146 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.