Llewelyn
A Welsh masculine name meaning "leader" or "having a bright mind".
Name Census estimates that about 130 living Americans carry the first name Llewelyn. It is a predominantly male name (94.1% of registrations). The average person named Llewelyn today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Llewelyn births was 2024 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Llewelyn. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
130
~ 1 in 2,636,572 Americans
Peak year
2024
23 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,495
Tracked since 1916
Gender
Gender distribution for Llewelyn
Llewelyn leans heavily male at 94.1% of total registrations, but 10 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Llewelyn as a male name
- Ranked #4,495 in 2024
- 23 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (23 births)
Llewelyn as a female name
- Ranked #16,528 in 2020
- 5 female births in 2020
- Peak: 2017 (5 births)
Popularity
Llewelyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Llewelyn from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 70 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Llewelyn by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Llewelyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Llewelyn
Llewelyn is a Welsh masculine given name derived from the Welsh words "llu" meaning "leader" and "gwelyn" meaning "bright" or "shining." Its origins can be traced back to the 6th century, when it was used by Welsh royalty and nobility.
The name gained particular prominence during the medieval period, when several Welsh princes bore the name. One of the most notable was Llewelyn the Great (c. 1173-1240), a Welsh prince who led the struggle against English domination and established a period of independence for Wales.
Another famous Llewelyn was Llewelyn the Last (c. 1223-1282), the last sovereign Prince of Wales before the conquest of the region by Edward I of England. His death marked the end of an independent Welsh state for several centuries.
In the 13th century, the name Llewelyn appeared in the Welsh chronicle "Brut y Tywysogion" (Chronicle of the Princes), which recorded the lives and deeds of Welsh rulers and princes.
Beyond Wales, the name Llewelyn has also been used in other parts of the British Isles. One notable figure was Llewelyn Farchen (c. 1365-1420), a Welsh-born merchant and diplomat who served as Lord Mayor of London in 1416.
In more recent times, the name Llewelyn has been borne by several notable individuals, including Llewelyn Powys (1884-1939), a British writer and philosopher, and Llewelyn Rhys (1899-1976), a British author and editor.
While not as common today as it once was, the name Llewelyn continues to be used, particularly in Wales and other parts of the United Kingdom, as a testament to its rich historical and cultural significance.
People
Llewelyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Llewelyn as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Llewelyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Llewelyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 130 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Llewelyn going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,636,572 US residents.
Is Llewelyn a common name?
We classify Llewelyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 170 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Llewelyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Llewelyn was 2024, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Llewelyn is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Llewelyn a male name?
Yes, 94.1% of people registered as Llewelyn in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.