Fun Facts About the Name Langston
- More than 7 thousand babies named Langston: U.S. records list 7,661 babies given the name Langston from 1880 through 2025. Even 345 girls received the name Langston - about 1 girl for every 21 boys.
What Does the Name Langston Mean?
Langston is an English place-based surname used as a given name, meaning "long stone." It comes from the Old English elements lang ("long") and stān ("stone"). The second element is stān, not tūn ("settlement, town"), so Langston is not simply a spelling variant of Langton, which is a separate surname built from different words.
The meaning is literal and descriptive rather than religious or symbolic. Names of this kind usually identified a person either by a nearby landmark - a long stone, a standing stone, or a long stone boundary marker - or by a village named after such a feature. Places bearing the name or a close spelling exist in England, including Langstone in Hampshire and Langston in Devon. Because more than one place could have produced the surname independently, the same modern spelling may descend from more than one local origin.
Langston Name History & Origins
Langston began as an English surname in the Middle Ages, when hereditary family names taken from villages and landscape features became common. Spellings fluctuated between Langston and Langstone, and the surname spread with English settlement, appearing in North America through emigration.
In the United States the name is also associated with a free family of color in Virginia and Ohio. Lucy Jane Langston passed the surname to her son John Mercer Langston (1829 - 1897), born in Louisa County, Virginia, who became a lawyer, a U.S. congressman from Virginia, and the first dean of the Howard University law school. His brother, Charles Henry Langston, was the maternal grandfather of the poet Langston Hughes (1902 - 1967), who received Langston as a first name from his mother's family. The town of Langston, Oklahoma, and Langston University, founded there in 1897, were named for John Mercer Langston.
As a given name, Langston is used mainly in the United States and remains uncommon; the poet Langston Hughes is its best-known bearer.
How Popular is the Name Langston?
Langston recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2016. Its best rank was #652 in 2016.
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 | #12,609 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2024 | #14,420 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2023 | #10,779 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 2022 | #10,844 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2021 | #14,463 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2020 | #10,746 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 2019 | #8,872 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2018 | #7,268 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2017 | #7,269 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 2016 | #6,306 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 2015 | #6,606 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 2014 | #5,559 | 24 | 0.0013% |
| 2013 | #4,298 | 34 | 0.0019% |
| 2012 | #5,646 | 24 | 0.0014% |
| 2011 | #4,633 | 31 | 0.0018% |
| 2010 | #4,920 | 29 | 0.0016% |
| 2009 | #4,882 | 30 | 0.0016% |
| 2008 | #5,515 | 26 | 0.0014% |
| 2007 | #9,893 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2006 | #16,247 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #1,000 | 227 | 0.0133% |
| 2024 | #909 | 256 | 0.0149% |
| 2023 | #892 | 261 | 0.0153% |
| 2022 | #793 | 318 | 0.0182% |
| 2021 | #742 | 343 | 0.0196% |
| 2020 | #693 | 367 | 0.0213% |
| 2019 | #678 | 379 | 0.0211% |
| 2018 | #682 | 359 | 0.0198% |
| 2017 | #677 | 375 | 0.0203% |
| 2016 | #652 | 405 | 0.0213% |
| 2015 | #689 | 365 | 0.0190% |
| 2014 | #748 | 317 | 0.0165% |
| 2013 | #958 | 209 | 0.0111% |
| 2012 | #1,099 | 170 | 0.0090% |
| 2011 | #1,065 | 177 | 0.0093% |
| 2010 | #1,077 | 180 | 0.0094% |
| 2009 | #1,080 | 172 | 0.0087% |
| 2008 | #1,027 | 187 | 0.0092% |
| 2007 | #1,240 | 142 | 0.0068% |
| 2006 | #1,531 | 98 | 0.0048% |
| 2005 | #1,357 | 111 | 0.0056% |
| 2004 | #1,545 | 86 | 0.0043% |
| 2003 | #1,396 | 96 | 0.0049% |
| 2002 | #1,454 | 88 | 0.0045% |
| 2001 | #1,493 | 82 | 0.0042% |
| 2000 | #1,632 | 72 | 0.0037% |
| 1999 | #1,636 | 66 | 0.0034% |
| 1998 | #1,591 | 66 | 0.0035% |
| 1997 | #1,475 | 73 | 0.0039% |
| 1996 | #2,038 | 43 | 0.0023% |
| 1995 | #1,471 | 66 | 0.0035% |
| 1994 | #1,685 | 54 | 0.0028% |
| 1993 | #1,674 | 53 | 0.0027% |
| 1992 | #1,559 | 57 | 0.0029% |
| 1991 | #1,817 | 44 | 0.0022% |
| 1990 | #1,924 | 40 | 0.0019% |
| 1989 | #2,391 | 28 | 0.0014% |
| 1988 | #2,072 | 31 | 0.0016% |
| 1987 | #2,903 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 1986 | #2,572 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 1985 | #3,023 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1984 | #2,406 | 21 | 0.0012% |
| 1983 | #2,861 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1982 | #1,918 | 29 | 0.0016% |
| 1981 | #1,929 | 29 | 0.0016% |
| 1980 | #2,797 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 1979 | #2,850 | 16 | 0.0009% |
| 1978 | #4,031 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1977 | #2,320 | 20 | 0.0012% |
| 1976 | #4,230 | 8 | 0.0005% |
| 1975 | #3,808 | 9 | 0.0006% |
| 1974 | #2,413 | 17 | 0.0011% |
| 1973 | #3,139 | 11 | 0.0007% |
| 1972 | #1,854 | 24 | 0.0015% |
| 1971 | #2,176 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 1970 | #2,808 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1969 | #2,492 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1968 | #3,004 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1967 | #4,296 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1966 | #4,273 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1965 | #2,705 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1964 | #3,170 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1963 | #2,612 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1962 | #3,852 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1961 | #3,008 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1960 | #2,082 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 1959 | #3,445 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1958 | #2,070 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 1957 | #3,793 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1956 | #2,888 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1955 | #2,502 | 11 | 0.0005% |
| 1954 | #2,859 | 9 | 0.0004% |
| 1953 | #3,280 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1952 | #2,213 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1951 | #3,225 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1950 | #2,680 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1949 | #1,794 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 1948 | #1,788 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 1947 | #1,714 | 20 | 0.0011% |
| 1946 | #1,992 | 14 | 0.0009% |
| 1945 | #1,824 | 15 | 0.0011% |
| 1944 | #1,787 | 16 | 0.0012% |
| 1943 | #2,233 | 12 | 0.0008% |
| 1942 | #2,618 | 9 | 0.0007% |
| 1941 | #3,010 | 7 | 0.0006% |
| 1940 | #3,305 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1939 | #2,368 | 10 | 0.0009% |
| 1938 | #2,569 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1937 | #3,054 | 7 | 0.0007% |
| 1935 | #1,798 | 16 | 0.0015% |
| 1934 | #1,976 | 14 | 0.0014% |
| 1933 | #2,873 | 8 | 0.0008% |
| 1932 | #2,746 | 9 | 0.0009% |
| 1931 | #4,074 | 5 | 0.0005% |
| 1930 | #2,898 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1929 | #2,522 | 11 | 0.0010% |
| 1926 | #2,257 | 14 | 0.0013% |
| 1925 | #3,039 | 9 | 0.0008% |
| 1924 | #3,389 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1923 | #3,323 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1922 | #3,404 | 8 | 0.0007% |
| 1921 | #4,120 | 6 | 0.0005% |
| 1920 | #2,287 | 14 | 0.0013% |
| 1919 | #3,969 | 6 | 0.0006% |
| 1918 | #2,630 | 11 | 0.0011% |
| 1917 | #2,499 | 11 | 0.0012% |
| 1915 | #4,127 | 5 | 0.0006% |
| 1914 | #3,525 | 5 | 0.0008% |
| 1913 | #1,747 | 11 | 0.0021% |
| 1912 | #2,430 | 6 | 0.0014% |
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 Langston 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.
Creative and outgoing, you are always looking for an opportunity to show your abilities, especially before audience. You are very flexible and like to feel appreciated. You are looking for chances to mix with others socially and to communicate your ideas. You like to talk and can easily relate to different cultures and concepts. The biggest challenge for you is uncertainty. Easily getting bored, you can move from one job to another, switch projects and lovers. The high creative force can lead you either to happiness or unhappiness. If you understand your goals, if you can make major decisions in life and follow it directly and straight up without worry and uncertainty, you are able to achieve great heights.
✦ Langston's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Langston's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.