Legend
Legend was the 193rd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 1,862 babies. Its best year was 2021, when it ranked 118th with 3,186 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 198 places. More babies were named Legend in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Meaning legend (word name) · English, Latin
Say it LEJ-uhnd /ˈlɛdʒənd/
- Rank in 2025
- #193 boys, down 66 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 1,862boys
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a boy’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 20213,186 babies
- Total since 1880
- 26,773babies recorded
What does the name Legend mean?
Legend is the English word for a traditional story, used as a boy's name in recent decades; Wiktionary records it as a male given name. The word came into English from Old French and Medieval Latin legenda, 'things to be read', a term first used for the lives of the saints, from Latin legere, 'to read'. As a name it carries the modern sense of a person of great fame. It has no older history as a personal name.
legenda (Medieval Latin, “things to be read; saints' lives”)legere (Latin, “to read”)
How sure is this? Well established.
See also: English names.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Legend', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation); facts restated, no text reused
- Wiktionary, entry 'legend', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation); facts restated, no text reused
Legend popularity since 1880
A few girls are given the name too: 968 since 1994, 21 in 2025.
| Year | Rank (boys) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #193 | 1,862 |
| 2020 | #127 | 2,852 |
| 2010 | #942 | 214 |
| 2000 | #2,959 | 30 |
| 1990 | — | — |
| 1980 | — | — |
| 1970 | — | — |
| 1960 | — | — |
| 1950 | — | — |
| 1940 | — | — |
| 1930 | — | — |
| 1920 | — | — |
| 1910 | — | — |
| 1900 | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — |
How popular is Legend, counting every spelling?
Legend is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #208 for boys in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #193 for Legend on its own. Together these spellings went to 1,862 boys in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legend | 1,862 | #193 | 12,742 |
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 Legend?
1,862 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Legend (0.52 per 1,000 births). For a boy named Legend 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 5 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Legend.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Legend?
About 25,600 people born in the US named Legend are alive today, with a median age of 6; half are between 3 and 8. That makes Legend 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.
Legend by state
How common Legend was among boys born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Mississippi (3.6×), Delaware (3.4×), Hawaii (3.2×), District of Columbia (2.9×), Louisiana (2.8×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Idaho, Montana, Washington.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Legend: their share of US boys followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Legend, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Legend · Sibling names for Legend
Questions about the name Legend
What does Legend mean?
Legend means “legend (word name)” (English, Latin origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Legend?
Legend was the 193rd most popular name for boys in 2025, given to 1,862 babies. Its best year was 2021, when it ranked 118th with 3,186 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved up 198 places. More babies were named Legend in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Is Legend a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a boy’s name given the name Legend in the US.
Where is Legend most popular?
In 2021–2025, Legend was most common in Mississippi (5.25 per 1,000 boys), followed by Delaware and Hawaii.