Leighton

What Leighton means

Means “leek + settlement”

Various place names in England, Old English leac (“leek”) + tun (“settlement”), also in the sense of a herb garden.

Source: Wiktionary, “Leighton” (revision 92190976), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Leighton?

US: Rising: up from #470 in 2015. England & Wales: New in the last 10 years.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 892 girls got the name (#342 that year). First in the US records in 1956.

How common

• About 1 in 1,802 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 42,214 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in MT (2.83 per 1,000 girls), NE (2.82 per 1,000 girls), SD (2.29 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Leighton is #342 in the US and #3705 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 81.2% of US babies named Leighton were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

Wiktionary only lists the UK pronunciation so far.

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Leightyn11 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Leighton

Girls

• Harper#16From a surname for “a player of the harp”^*
• Emery#74Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #74 vs #1,197 in 2025
• Kinsley#93“Royal (a man's name) + s + woodland clearing”^*
• Quinn#97“descendant of Chief”^*
• Sawyer#290“one who saws”^*
• Everleigh#194“wild boar + woodland clearing”^*

For a brother

• Callen#516Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #516 vs #2,952 in 2025
• Emmett#121Diminutive of Emma, meaning “entire”^*
• Reid#293Editor’s note Steady in the US: #278 in 2015 and #293 in 2025
• Greyson#149Variant of Grayson, meaning “steward”^*
• Grayson#51“steward”^*
• Paxton#338“settlement of (a person named) *Pæcc”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under From a surname, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Leighton’s. Rank is US 2025.