Logan

Logan: a Scottish name meaning “little hollow”

Logan comes from a Scottish surname originally taken from a place in Ayrshire. Its Gaelic root lag means “hollow” or “pit,” with a smaller-form ending giving the meaning “little hollow.” English usually says LOH-gun, with two syllables and stress on the first.

The surname developed a substantial modern history as a given name. Its cultural associations include the science-fiction film Logan’s Run and the name used by Marvel’s Wolverine, while American records show strong use for boys and a smaller feminine tradition.

From a landscape to a family name

The older place name described a feature of the land. A small hollow supplied the geographical identity that became a surname, before Logan moved into wider first-name use.

The compact modern form keeps that older landscape meaning within five letters. Its first syllable is open and strongly stressed, followed by a light ending that makes the name easy to recognize in ordinary English conversation.

Logan began rising in the United States during the 1970s and became widely used across the English-speaking world toward the end of the twentieth century. That newer period of popularity gave an older Scottish family name a much larger modern generation.

Logan’s Run and science fiction

The 1976 film Logan’s Run stars Michael York as Logan, a man living within a futuristic society that sharply limits the lives of its citizens. His movement away from that system turns the character’s name into the title of an escape story.

The film gave Logan a recognizable science-fiction identity during the same decade in which its American use was beginning to rise. Its title kept the short name especially visible on posters, listings, and later discussions of the film.

The association belongs to a particular fictional setting, quite separate from the small Scottish landform behind the surname. Both have become recognizable parts of the name’s wider story.

Logan and Wolverine

Marvel’s Wolverine is also widely known as Logan. His fictional history identifies him earlier as James Howlett before he adopts the name by which readers and his fellow X-Men usually know him.

The character first appeared in comics in 1974, giving Logan another prominent screen-and-page identity from that period. Later stories explored the earlier life behind the familiar Wolverine persona, including the change from James to Logan.

That use made Logan familiar within superhero fiction as an everyday personal name alongside a different public codename. It adds another substantial cultural association without changing the older surname’s Gaelic meaning.

Pronunciation and everyday form

English LOH-gun begins with the long vowel heard in “go.” The g is hard, and the final syllable is light. The name normally has two syllables, with the strongest beat at the beginning.

The full Logan is already short enough to use without a nickname. Its final n and compact surname spelling remain the same in masculine and feminine use, with the pronunciation normally unchanged.

Popularity in the United States

Logan reached its largest annual American boys’ count in 2007, with 15,331 births. Its best boys’ rank came in 2017, at number five.

In 2025, it ranked fifty-three for boys and 402 for girls. The girls’ largest annual count was 1,106 in 2017. Those records show a dominant masculine history alongside an established smaller feminine use, both carrying the same Scottish-derived spelling.

How popular is Logan?

In 2025, Logan ranked #53 among boys in the United States, with 5,576 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for boys in 1880; its largest annual count was 15,331 in 2007. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.