Lacey
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Meaning
“English surname from Lassy, a Norman place name”
The story
Lacey looks so much like lace that the fabric seems an obvious explanation. It is also the wrong one. The name comes through the surname Lacy or de Lacy, taken from Lassy, a place in Normandy. After the Norman conquest, the de Lacy family established power in England and Ireland, carrying the place-name across the Channel and into a long, complicated history of land and rule. Much later, the surname became a given name, and the extra e settled naturally into English spelling. Lace still hovers as a modern visual association, but it did not weave the original name. That distinction makes Lacey more interesting than a simple decorative word. It began on a map, traveled with a medieval family, passed into surnames, and finally reached first-name use. No bearer inherits the de Lacys' status or actions. The name's real thread is linguistic: a Norman village continuing to sound in places far from Normandy.
How popular is Lacey around the world?
In the United States, 2,180 babies were named Lacey between 2020 and 2025. In South Australia, 10 girls were registered as Lacey in 2017.
Lacey is on the official records of the United States, South Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, England and Wales, Ireland and Canada.
United States
1 in 10,000
In the United States, 2,180 babies were named Lacey between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Lacey peaked in the 1980s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
South Australia
1 in 1,8002017
In South Australia, 10 girls were registered as Lacey in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
New Zealand
1 in 3,600
In New Zealand, 16 girls named Lacey were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Scotland
1 in 3,800
In Scotland, 12 girls named Lacey were registered in 2024, the 295th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
England and Wales
1 in 7,100
In England and Wales, 83 girls named Lacey were born in 2025, the 478th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Ireland
1 in 11,000
In Ireland, 5 girls named Lacey were born in 2025, the 608th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Canada
1 in 11,000
In Canada, 33 girls named Lacey were born in 2024, the 856th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Chile
last on record 2018
Lacey is not on the 2021 record for Chile, where nametree keeps the spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Austria record for 1984 to 2025: Statistik Austria publishes every first name down to a single birth, so this name was not given there in those years (before 2010 the record covers babies with Austrian citizenship only). Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
When you meet Lacey
Most people given the name Lacey in the United States were born between 1980 and 2009. The Lacey you meet today is most often in her 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Lacey deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Lacey truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Lacey fits with your family’s names and surname.
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