Leighton
Meaning
place name, "settlement by a meadow"
The story
Leighton is the meadow settlement, and its record contains one of the strangest cross-links in our records: the surge decade of the name Leighton is the surge decade of the name Blair, one batch back, and they are the same television show, one the actress, one her character. Leighton ran about 2,200 in the 2000s, then 8,700 in the 2010s, four times over, across the seasons a Leighton played the queen bee; Blair's own curve bent identically. Decade buckets point, they do not convict, but two names bending around one show is as close as our records get to a signature. The columns: about 12,400 girls to 9,400 boys all-time, and this decade three girls to one boy, 5,000 to 1,600, with 6,500 total so far. An actress, a character, and two entries in one ledger: television names things twice.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Leighton peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
When you meet Leighton
Most people given the name Leighton 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.
The Leighton deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Leighton 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 Leighton fits with your family’s names and surname.
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