Loyal
From the English word, which arrived through Old French loial from Latin legalis, "pertaining to the law." Virtue words of this kind were taken up as names by English Protestants.
Loyal in 2025
Loyal was given to 254 babies in the United States in 2025 — 233 boys and 21 girls, making it the 1,899th most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 13,053 babies born.
The history of Loyal
Loyal reached its highest point in 2022, when 416 babies were given the name, ranking 1,351st that year. Its best-ever ranking was 1,216th, in 1918.
Across the 144 years of records since 1882, 6,439 babies have been named Loyal. Half of them were born before 1966, which places the name's centre of gravity with Generation X.
Loyal by decade
| Decade | Babies named Loyal | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 5 | 1,913 |
| 1890s | 77 | 1,306 |
| 1900s | 114 | 1,450 |
| 1910s | 637 | 1,216 |
| 1920s | 878 | 1,282 |
| 1930s | 599 | 1,340 |
| 1940s | 502 | 1,724 |
| 1950s | 254 | 2,457 |
| 1960s | 206 | 3,461 |
| 1970s | 97 | 6,585 |
| 1980s | 76 | 9,351 |
| 1990s | 43 | 14,844 |
| 2000s | 171 | 6,862 |
| 2010s | 779 | 2,993 |
| 2020s | 2,001 | 1,351 |
Where Loyal is heading
Loyal has risen 159% over the past decade, from 98 babies in 2015 to 254 in 2025.
Names like Loyal
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Loyal.