Fun Facts About the Name Lachlan
- More than 6 thousand babies named Lachlan: U.S. records list 6,398 babies given the name Lachlan from 1880 through 2025. Even 290 girls received the name Lachlan - about 1 girl for every 21 boys.
What Does the Name Lachlan Mean?
Lachlan is an anglicized form of the Scottish Gaelic personal name Lachlann, which comes from Lochlann, the Gaelic word for Scandinavia, and especially for Norway. The usual explanation of Lochlann is that it joins loch, meaning "lake" or "sea inlet," with a second element taken to be lann, "land" - so the literal sense is "land of lakes" or "lake-land," a description of the fjord country the Gaels associated with the Norse.
The second element is not fully settled. Some accounts treat lann here as "land" or "enclosure," while others suggest the whole word was shaped by contact with Old Norse speech rather than built purely from Gaelic parts. What is clear is that Lochlann functioned as a place-name for the Norse homelands before it became a personal name, and that a person called Lachlann was often understood to be of Norse or Norse-Gaelic stock - "a Norseman." Customary glosses such as "warlike" or "from the fjord land" are later interpretations of that background rather than a direct translation of the word.
Lachlan Name History & Origins
Lochlann appears in medieval Irish and Scottish Gaelic writing as the name for Scandinavia, and from it speakers formed the personal name Lachlann and its variants. Use of the name is documented in the Gaelic-speaking west of Scotland, particularly in Argyll and the Hebrides, where Norse and Gaelic communities were closely intertwined. Because a Lachlann was originally a person identified with the Norse lands, the name carried that association of Norse descent among Gaelic families.
From the personal name came the surname MacLachlan, "son of Lachlan," borne by a Highland clan centered in Argyll; the given name was passed down among its chiefly line and among other western Scottish families. In Ireland, the same element lies behind the surnames Ó Lochlainn and Mac Lochlainn, anglicized as O'Loughlin and MacLoughlin, though these developed on their own Irish lines rather than as forms of the Scottish given name.
Anglicized spellings recorded in Scotland include Lachlan and Lachlann, with the simplified Lochlan appearing later. Scottish emigration in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries carried the name to Canada, New Zealand, and especially Australia, where it has long been a familiar given name. Its use in the United States grew mainly in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. A famous later bearer, the Australian bushranger and folk figure Ned Kelly's associate...
How Popular is the Name Lachlan?
Lachlan recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2025. Its best rank was #606 in 2025.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #10,536 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 2024 | #8,692 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2023 | #7,100 | 16 | 0.0010% |
| 2022 | #6,592 | 18 | 0.0011% |
| 2021 | #6,549 | 18 | 0.0011% |
| 2020 | #5,408 | 23 | 0.0014% |
| 2019 | #6,895 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 2018 | #6,399 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 2017 | #6,182 | 20 | 0.0012% |
| 2016 | #7,448 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2015 | #7,132 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 2014 | #7,891 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2013 | #9,956 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2012 | #8,046 | 15 | 0.0009% |
| 2011 | #12,827 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 2010 | #18,586 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2009 | #9,730 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2008 | #19,180 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 2007 | #16,643 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2006 | #16,226 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2005 | #11,413 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2002 | #11,700 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1996 | #14,738 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #606 | 468 | 0.0274% |
| 2024 | #691 | 389 | 0.0227% |
| 2023 | #771 | 333 | 0.0195% |
| 2022 | #746 | 345 | 0.0198% |
| 2021 | #726 | 356 | 0.0204% |
| 2020 | #705 | 358 | 0.0208% |
| 2019 | #690 | 369 | 0.0206% |
| 2018 | #687 | 355 | 0.0196% |
| 2017 | #699 | 353 | 0.0191% |
| 2016 | #701 | 354 | 0.0187% |
| 2015 | #767 | 311 | 0.0162% |
| 2014 | #911 | 236 | 0.0123% |
| 2013 | #976 | 205 | 0.0108% |
| 2012 | #1,033 | 188 | 0.0099% |
| 2011 | #1,061 | 178 | 0.0094% |
| 2010 | #1,207 | 148 | 0.0077% |
| 2009 | #1,188 | 152 | 0.0077% |
| 2008 | #1,218 | 145 | 0.0071% |
| 2007 | #1,357 | 124 | 0.0060% |
| 2006 | #1,312 | 126 | 0.0061% |
| 2005 | #1,396 | 107 | 0.0054% |
| 2004 | #2,012 | 60 | 0.0030% |
| 2003 | #1,831 | 65 | 0.0033% |
| 2002 | #1,991 | 56 | 0.0029% |
| 2001 | #2,231 | 46 | 0.0024% |
| 2000 | #2,458 | 39 | 0.0020% |
| 1999 | #2,318 | 39 | 0.0020% |
| 1998 | #1,976 | 49 | 0.0026% |
| 1997 | #2,654 | 30 | 0.0016% |
| 1996 | #5,062 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1995 | #3,780 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1994 | #4,429 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 1993 | #4,598 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1992 | #9,227 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1991 | #7,829 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1989 | #4,686 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1988 | #5,493 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1983 | #6,842 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1982 | #5,349 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1970 | #5,121 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1964 | #4,354 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1959 | #3,816 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1956 | #4,221 | 5 | 0.0002% |
| 1952 | #4,027 | 5 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Lachlan Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You always bring to completion anything you start. You are generous but like to see returns from your giving. You have an executive ability, you are a leader. You are moral, balanced, honest and intellectual, and you may attain spirituality. You are wise and practical with an appreciation of beauty. You always think before you act. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You find the best contentment in life when you own your own home and provide well for your family and loved ones. You have a great sense of responsibility and duty. You are comforting, appreciative and affectionate. Your obligation in life is to hold justice and truth, and if you follow the Law, you can find the great happiness and satisfaction.
✦ Lachlan's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Lachlan's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.