Legacy
Legacy was the 662nd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 429 babies. Its best year was 2021, when it ranked 434th with 725 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 759 places. More babies were named Legacy in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Meaning something handed down (English word) · English, Latin
Say it LEG-uh-see /ˈlɛɡəsi/
- Rank in 2025
- #662 girls, down 162 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 429girls
- Girls and boys
- 66% girls, 34% boys2021–2025
- Peak year
- 2021725 babies
- Total since 1880
- 8,483babies recorded
What does the name Legacy mean?
Legacy is a modern American word name, taken from the English noun for money or property left in a will, and more broadly anything handed down from earlier generations. The word came into Middle English from Old French, from Medieval Latin legatia, built on Latin legatus, the past participle of legare, to send as a deputy or to bequeath. Its first English sense was the office of a legate, an envoy. As a given name it has no older tradition; it suggests inheritance and family continuity.
legacie (Middle English, “office of a deputy; bequest”)legare (Latin, “to depute, bequeath”)
How sure is this? Well established. The word's history is well documented; its use as a first name is a recent US coinage with no older history.
See also: English names.
Sources for this meaning
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th ed., entry 'legacy' (etymology), HarperCollins / Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Wiktionary, entry 'legacy' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
Legacy popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Rank (boys) | Babies (girls) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #662 | #957 | 429 | 244 |
| 2020 | #500 | #762 | 612 | 316 |
| 2010 | #2,601 | #3,214 | 70 | 35 |
| 2000 | #5,602 | — | 20 | — |
| 1990 | — | — | — | — |
| 1980 | — | — | — | — |
| 1970 | — | — | — | — |
| 1960 | — | — | — | — |
| 1950 | — | — | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — |
How popular is Legacy, counting every spelling?
Legacy is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #536 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #662 for Legacy on its own. Together these spellings went to 567 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legacy | 429 | #662 | 2,861 |
| Legaci | 86 | #2,165 | 569 |
| Legacie | 33 | #4,308 | 183 |
| Legacee | 13 | #8,136 | 94 |
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Legacy?
429 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Legacy (0.12 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Legacy born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 20 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Legacy.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Legacy?
About 5,700 people born in the US named Legacy are alive today, with a median age of 6; half are between 3 and 9. That makes Legacy a young name: most people with it are children.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Legacy by state
How common Legacy was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Mississippi (3.2×), Georgia (3.1×), Louisiana (2.5×), Arkansas (2.1×), Oklahoma (2.1×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Iowa, Nebraska, Washington.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Legacy: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Legacy, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Legacy · Sibling names for Legacy
Questions about the name Legacy
What does Legacy mean?
Legacy means “something handed down (English word)” (English, Latin origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Legacy?
Legacy was the 662nd most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 429 babies. Its best year was 2021, when it ranked 434th with 725 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 759 places. More babies were named Legacy in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Is Legacy a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, 66% girls, 34% boys given the name Legacy in the US.
Where is Legacy most popular?
In 2021–2025, Legacy was most common in Mississippi (1.13 per 1,000 girls), followed by Georgia and Louisiana.