unisex name
Leighton
LAY-tun
- Origin English
- Gender Unisex
- Syllables 2
- Letters 8
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 29,267
the United States
#342
2025 births
Leighton is a unisex name of English origin meaning "herb garden settlement". The first element is the Old English leac, a leek or garden vegetable, not the ley meaning meadow that many sources give — the two look alike in modern spelling and are frequently confused.
- Leighton is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 2022, when 1,144 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,017 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1893.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Leighton over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1890s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1890s | 21 |
| 1900s | 31 |
| 1910s | 247 |
| 1920s | 440 |
| 1930s | 349 |
| 1940s | 423 |
| 1950s | 389 |
| 1960s | 308 |
| 1970s | 389 |
| 1980s | 606 |
| 1990s | 1,185 |
| 2000s | 2,237 |
| 2010s | 8,650 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 6,548 |
What Leighton means
Leighton means a settlement with a herb or vegetable garden, from the Old English leactun. The common gloss of meadow settlement comes from confusing leac with leah, a clearing, which is a different word entirely.
Where Leighton comes from
Leighton is a habitational name from any of several English villages, from the Old English leactun, a kitchen garden — leac, a leek or pot-herb, plus tun, an enclosure or settlement. Leek was a general word for garden vegetables before it narrowed to the one plant, so a leactun was a market garden rather than a leek field. Place-name scholarship is clear on this, but because leah, a woodland clearing, produces the almost identical Layton and Leyton, the meadow reading circulates widely. Leighton Buzzard in Bedfordshire is the best-known bearer of the name. First-name use is modern and unusually balanced between boys and girls.
Leighton in use
Leighton charts in six of the seven countries we track and peaked in 2022.
How popular is Leighton?
In 2025, Leighton was given to 1,099 babies in the United States, ranking #342 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Leighton 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 Leighton
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Leighton also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Leighton over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Leighton
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Leighton 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 Leighton
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Leighton — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Leighton
What does the name Leighton mean?
Herb garden settlement, from the Old English leactun. The meadow reading many sources give confuses leac with leah, which is a different word.
Is Leighton a boy's or a girl's name?
Both, and unusually evenly so.
How do you pronounce Leighton?
LAY-tun, the same as Layton.
How popular is the name Leighton?
In 2025, Leighton was given to 1,099 babies in the United States, ranking #342 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
How many syllables are in Leighton?
Leighton has 2 syllables.
When was Leighton most popular?
Leighton peaked in 2022, when 1,144 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Leighton?
Leighton is usually shortened to Lee and Leigh.
Is Leighton a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Leighton currently ranks #293 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.