Name Awesome

Lex

#2,322 in 2025Boys' name

To defend + man, through Alexander

Lex has been given to 4,010 babies in the U.S. since 1892. In 2025 it ranked #2,322 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2012, with 94 recorded.

Babies named Lex, 2025

1 in 55,300

Lex 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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Lex: meaning, origin, and history

To defend + man, through Alexander

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Lex means

Lex belongs to the name family reached through Lex → Alexander. Its meaning is “to defend + man”.

Origin, language, and formation

Lex is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Alexander.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Lex is pronounced /lɛks/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 3,995 boys were recorded with the name Lex between 1892 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 94 in 2012; its best national rank was #912 in 1956.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,807 in 2020 to #2,322 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #2,081 in 2015 to #2,322 in 2025.

In the United States, 15 girls were recorded with the name Lex between 2016 and 2023. Its highest annual count was 5 in 2016; its best national rank was #16,510 in 2020.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Lex?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 55,300
60 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 28,500
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,322
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
38,299 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Lex 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 38,299 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Lex. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Lexs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Lex was born before 1998 — so the typical Lex is around 27 today.

Median birth year
1998
About 27 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
19.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
48.5%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
3,375
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 19.5% of all recorded uses (780).

Is Lex 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
−100
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−515
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−241
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.88×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
63.8%
Peak was 2012 (94)
Years since peak
13
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
11.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#912
1956

Where Lex is used

Across 2016–2025, Lex was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 16,667 boys, against 1 in 26,147 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in 100,000).

16 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 16,667
  2. 2Florida1 in 20,000
  3. 3Texas1 in 20,000
  4. 4New York1 in 25,000
  5. 5Pennsylvania1 in 33,333
  6. 6Illinois1 in 50,000
  7. 7Indiana1 in 50,000
  8. 8North Carolina1 in 50,000

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.

Lex around the world

Where Lex ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1999–2025
    #3,256
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2005–2023
    #728
    in 2023
  • Ireland
    2018–2018
    #749
    in 2018
  • France
    2007–2020
    #5,954
    in 2020
  • Canada
    2001–2024
    #1,614
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1946–2012
    #771
    in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Lex

People whose public names include Lex, 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.

Lex by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,322
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 515
Best rank ever
#912
1956
Peak year
2012
94 that year
First recorded
1892
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,995
Count in 2025
60

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#16,510
2020
Peak year
2016
5 that year
First recorded
2016
Last recorded
2023
All-time count
15
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Lex

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

ElexLextonLexieLexusLexxLexingtonAlexLexonDalexLexanderAllexLexisLexinLexielKalexLexiFlexCalexJalexMallexMalexJaylexIlexArlex

Names with a curve like Lex

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

HenriLuckyVannDixonLindenGrayKonradBurkePatricioAugustinMendelWynn

Sibling names for Lex

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 Lex

Top names of 2012, Lex's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 1956Boys' names starting with L