Legend
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Meaning
from the word "legend"
The story
Legend once had more to do with reading than with being famous. The English word reaches back to Latin legere, to read, and to collections of saints’ lives meant for reading. One of those collections nearly defeated its printer. William Caxton tells in his preface how close he came to abandoning The Golden Legend, until the Earl of Arundel encouraged him to finish. The offer included buying copies and an annual gift of a buck in summer and a doe in winter. Even a legendary book could need a very practical bargain. Caxton’s great illustrated volume finally emerged from his Westminster press. Today Legend can name both a remarkable person and a story that survives retelling. Behind its grand entrance as a given name is an older invitation: here is something worth reading, and worth passing on.
How popular is Legend around the world?
In the United States, 15,888 babies were named Legend between 2020 and 2025.
Legend is on the official records of the United States, Canada and England and Wales.
United States
1 in 1,400
In the United States, 15,888 babies were named Legend between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Legend peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Canada
1 in 18,000
In Canada, 20 boys named Legend were born in 2024, ranked 1,181st among boys 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)
England and Wales
1 in 98,000
In England and Wales, 6 boys named Legend were born in 2025, ranked 3,256th among boys that year.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.
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
New Zealand
last on record 2021
Legend is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
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
South Australia
last on record 2015
Legend is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
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
Not on the record in Spain, Mexico City, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Ireland, Scotland and Poland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. 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 Legend
Most people given the name Legend in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
The Legend deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Legend 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 Legend fits with your family’s names and surname.
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