Fun Facts About the Name Legendary
- 140 babies named Legendary: U.S. records list 140 babies given the name Legendary from 1880 through 2025. Even 11 girls received the name Legendary - about 1 girl for every 12 boys.
What Does the Name Legendary Mean?
Legendary is an English word name taken from the adjective legendary, meaning "of, relating to, or resembling a legend" and, by extension, "famous or remarkable, as if from legend." The adjective was formed in English from the noun legend plus the suffix -ary. Legend came into Middle English from Old French legende, which derives from Medieval Latin legenda, literally "things to be read" - a neuter plural gerundive of Latin legere, "to read." In medieval Latin, legenda referred to accounts of a saint's life read aloud in church, and English kept that religious sense for centuries before the word widened to mean any traditional or heroic story.
Because the name is drawn straight from an ordinary English word, its meaning is the word's meaning rather than a separate name etymology, and the name has no foreign-language form whose translation must be worked out. Parents who use it are drawing on the everyday sense of something or someone storied and celebrated, not on a hidden older meaning.
Legendary Name History & Origins
The source word's history begins with medieval Latin legenda, a term for saints' lives appointed to be read in church. Old French took it up as legende and passed it into Middle English in the 1200s, at first with the religious sense intact. English also formed a noun legendary in the Middle Ages for a collection of such lives - a book of legends, sometimes called a legendarium in Latin.
The adjective legendary, "pertaining to a legend," appears in English by the 1500s, built from legend with the suffix -ary. As the word legend broadened to cover Arthurian romance, Robin Hood, and other traditional heroes, the adjective shifted toward its current sense of something famous enough to belong to story. That is the sense the name carries.
Its use as a personal name belongs to the modern English-language habit of adopting ordinary vocabulary words as given names, a pattern seen in names such as Honor, Hope, and Legend. Each such word name stands on its own, and the related name Legend has its own separate use rather than being the source of this one.
How Popular is the Name Legendary?
Legendary has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2025. Its best rank was #4,481 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 | #14,180 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 2024 | #16,588 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #4,481 | 23 | 0.0013% |
| 2024 | #6,324 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2023 | #4,676 | 22 | 0.0013% |
| 2022 | #5,139 | 19 | 0.0011% |
| 2021 | #6,536 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2020 | #8,458 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2019 | #5,471 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 2018 | #10,299 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2014 | #13,247 | 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 Legendary 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 have an eventful, exciting life. You are versatile and have the ability to learn easily.
You are always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.
✦ Legendary's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Legendary's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.