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Lafayette

#10,258 in 2025Boys' name

Transferred from a surname; no fixed literal translation

Lafayette has been given to 4,882 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #10,258 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1921, with 86 recorded.

Babies named Lafayette, 2025

1 in 474,000

Lafayette over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
025507510018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Lafayette: meaning, origin, and history

Transferred from a surname; no fixed literal translation

surname transfer

What Lafayette means

Lafayette is a given name.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

French surname from Occitan, "the little beech tree".

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Lafayette (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Lafayette is used in English. Its origins include surname transfer.

Lafayette is recorded as a surname transferred into given-name use.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Lafayette is pronounced /ˌlæfiːˈɛt/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 4,861 boys were recorded with the name Lafayette between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 86 in 1921; its best national rank was #326 in 1886.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #7,293 in 2020 to #10,258 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #7,810 in 2015 to #10,258 in 2025.

In the United States, 21 girls were recorded with the name Lafayette between 1919 and 1974. Its highest annual count was 6 in 1974; its best national rank was #4,637 in 1934.

How common is Lafayette?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 474,000
7 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 244,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#10,258
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
328,272 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Lafayette sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 328,272 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Lafayette. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Lafayettes were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Lafayette was born before 1948 — so the typical Lafayette is around 77 today.

Median birth year
1948
About 77 years old
Biggest decade
1920s
11.8% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
6.7%
Mostly a past generation
Recorded since 1950
2,339
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1920s — 11.8% of all recorded uses (576).

Is Lafayette rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−763
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−2,965
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−2,448
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.70×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
8.1%
Peak was 1921 (86)
Years since peak
104
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
24.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#326
1886

Where Lafayette is used

Across 1910–2025, Lafayette was most concentrated in Alabama — about 1 in 25,000 boys, against 1 in 98,241 across all states with data. It was least common in Tennessee (1 in —).

04 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Alabama1 in 25,000
  2. 2North Carolina1 in 25,000
  3. 3Mississippi1 in 33,333
  4. 4Georgia1 in 50,000
  5. 5Texas1 in 50,000
  6. 6Virginia1 in 50,000
  7. 7Arkansas1 in 100,000
  8. 8California1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Lafayette has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Notable people named Lafayette

People whose public names include Lafayette, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Lafayette by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#10,258
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 2,965
Best rank ever
#326
1886
Peak year
1921
86 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
4,861
Count in 2025
7

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#4,637
1934
Peak year
1974
6 that year
First recorded
1919
Last recorded
1974
All-time count
21
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Lafayette

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

EveretteCharlotteMarquetteBurdetteLafeyetteJeanetteLafeEmmetteGarretteAnnetteBurnetteFayetteEliantteJarretteKenyatteJeannetteLafranceLafredrickWyatteAntoinettePauletteElliotteMarguetteBernadette

Names with a curve like Lafayette

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Lafayette, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

GilesRichmondNelsNapoleonAllisonCarletonBerryGodfreyCorneliousAlonzaCleveLorin

Sibling names for Lafayette

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Lafayette

Top names of 1921, Lafayette's peak yearThe 1920s in fullOther names that peaked in 1886Boys' names starting with L