Gender-neutral names beginning with L
116. Lauri
117. Laurie
118. Lee (or Leigh)
Origin: English
Meaning: A meadow
119. Lou
120. Lyric
What Mumsnetters say about gender-neutral names beginning with L
“Please choose Laurie, it's great.” - Mumsnet user, choosyfloosy
How to choose a baby name beginning with L
Looking for a popular L name? There are several baby girl names beginning with l in the ONS top 100 for names in England and Wales. If you’re looking for the most popular Irish baby names, check the Central Statistics Office and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency for Irish names and the National Records of Scotland for Scottish names.
Check out names beginning with L which are mentioned in Mumsnet’s baby names articles, including most popular baby names, top baby boy names and top baby girl names.
Find out which names beginning with l are popular with other parents in the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.
Choose a royal baby name starting with L. Names including Louis, Lilibet and Leonora are all in use by current members of royal families, both in the UK and abroad.
Looking for a cute name or a cool name beginning with l? Short baby names for girls starting with l include Lily, Liv, Lottie and Lulu. For boys, short cool names beginning with L are Lars, Leo, Levi and Liam.
What is the best girls’ name that starts with L?
Lots of L names for girls are mentioned in the ONS top 100 list for baby names in England and Wales. For girls, these include: Layla, Lily, Lilly, Lola, Lottie, Lyla, Lyra, Lucy and Luna.
Overall, Lily is the most popular girl name beginning with L in England and Wales (at number 5), in Scotland (at number 11), in Northern Ireland (at number 6) and in the Republic of Ireland (at number 5).
What is the best boys’ name that starts with L?
Lots of L names are mentioned in the ONS top 100 list for baby names in England and Wales. For boys, the most popular names beginning with L in England and Wales are Leo, Louie, Louis, Luca and Lucas.
The overall most popular L name for boys overall in England and Wales is Leo, at number 5, according to the most recent stats for England and Wales (released in May 2024).
However, the latest figures for Scotland, which were released by National Records of Scotland at the end of March 2024, show that another L name, Luca, has hit the top of Scotland’s boy names chart at number one. This means that Luca is not only the most popular boy name beginning with L in Scotland, it’s the overall most popular name given to boys in Scotland in 2023.
Leo and Luca are also very popular in Northern Ireland, according to the most recent stats from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, released 16 April 2024. In Northern Ireland, Leo stands at number 6 while Luca is at number 9.
In the Republic of Ireland, where the most recent stats are from 2022, a traditional Irish name is the most popular name beginning with L for baby boys - Liam stands at number 8.
What are rare names that start with L?
A rare name for boys beginning with L is Lex, which stands outside the top 1000 in the baby name rankings in England and Wales. Short and snappy - with a quirky DC Comics association (as long as you don’t mind having cartoon supervillain Lex Luther as a namesake). Hailing from the Netherlands, Lex is derived from the Greek name Alexander, which means ‘defender of man’.
If you like Lex, you also might like Lux. This cool, short Greek name simply means ‘light’ and it stands well outside the top 1500 for boys in the rankings for England and Wales.
Looking for a really rare girl name beginning with L? How about Lisette (or Lizette), a French variation on a Hebrew classic meaning God is my oath. The Lisette spelling is ranked outside the top 3000 in the official charts, while the Lizette spelling doesn’t actually feature on any rankings for England and Wales.
A quirky twist on the traditional Elizabeth derivatives, like Liz and Lizzie, Lisette or Lizette both sound modern and fresh and you’re unlikely to bump into another one at your nearest baby rhyme time group. Along similar lines, you could also consider Lizanne, another rare name which doesn’t feature on the rankings for England and Wales. With Hebrew and Afrikaans (South Africa) origins, it’s also derived from Elizabeth and means God is my oath and grace.
About the author
Louise Baty writes parenting content for Mumsnet, producing product round-ups, travel guides and baby name articles. She’s also written content for Mumsnet’s sister site, Gransnet.
Originally from West Yorkshire and now based in Nottinghamshire, Louise has worked as a features writer for consumer magazines and national newspapers for 20 years. She specialises in parenting and lifestyle features and emotional true life first-person interviews and has authored four non-fiction books on parenting and grandparenting.
Mum to two tweenagers, Louise’s own baby name choosing days may be long gone. However, she admits to having spent a LONG time deciding on her DCs’ names, together with her DP.
For this reason, Louise has a particular interest in baby names. She understands how difficult it can be to narrow down a short list from your long list of baby names, either during pregnancy or during the sleep-deprived days following the birth of your baby.
By compiling comprehensive and easy-to-follow baby name round-ups for Mumsnet, she hopes to provide inspiration and support to parents-to-be who are looking for the perfect name for their baby.