UK girl's name
Letty
A feminine diminutive form of the Spanish name Leticia, meaning "gladness.".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Letty is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Letty popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #2253, with 12 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2017, with 26 births.
This profile covers 206 England and Wales registrations across 15 recorded years from 1997 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales and NRS Scotland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 46% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 209 living people in the UK are called Letty. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Letty ranked #2253 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 12 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2017, when 26 girls were registered as Letty.
- • Letty ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #675 in 2016.
- • About 209 living people in the UK are estimated to have Letty as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#2253
2024
Births in 2024
12
Latest year
Peak year
2017
26 births
Estimated living
209
2026
Meaning
What does Letty mean?
The given name Letty is a diminutive form of the name Letitia, which has its origins in the Late Latin name Laetitia. Laetitia was a feminine form of the masculine name Laetitius, derived from the Latin word "laetitia," meaning joy, happiness, or gladness. The name Letty can be traced back to the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century, when it emerged as a shortened version of Letitia.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Letty can be found in the medieval English text, "The Brut" by Layamon, written around 1200 AD. In this work, the name is spelled as "Lette," which is believed to be an early variant of Letty. Another early reference to the name can be found in the 14th-century poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," where a character named "Lady Lette" is mentioned.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Letty. One such person was Letty Lind (1820-1887), a Swedish opera singer who achieved international fame during the 19th century. Another notable Letty was Letty Cowie (1890-1983), a Scottish philanthropist and feminist who campaigned for women's rights and founded the Letty Cowie Youth Centre in Edinburgh.
In the literary world, the name Letty has been used for fictional characters, such as Letty Foxton in the novel "The Vicar of Bullhampton" by Anthony Trollope (1870), and Letty Mayberry in the novel "Letty's Treasure" by Mary S. Blanchard (1899). Additionally, the name has been associated with historical figures like Letty Lind (1807-1892), an English philanthropist who founded the Royal Seamen's Hospital Society, and Letty Perceval (1784-1868), an English writer and political activist.
Another notable bearer of the name was Letty Lynton (1894-1976), an American silent film actress and dancer who appeared in several films during the 1920s. In more recent times, the name Letty has been carried by individuals like Letty Russell (born 1933), an American actress and singer, and Letty Cottin Pogrebin (born 1939), an American author and feminist advocate.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Letty over time
The chart below shows babies named Letty registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1997 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Letty, the clearest high point is 2017. The latest England and Wales figure is 12 births in 2024, compared with 26 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Letty by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Letty was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #2067 | 67 | 5 |
| 2010s | #1886 | 133 | 8 |
| 2000s | #5556 | 3 | 1 |
| 1990s | #3824 | 3 | 1 |
Geography
Where Letty is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Letty. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Letty ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #675 in 2016.
Across the UK
Letty in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#675 in 2016
1 years of NRS records, 4 total registered
Related
Names similar to Letty
- Lily 72,956
- Lucy 70,663
- Lauren 50,664
- Leah 33,185
- Lola 24,525
- Layla 24,520
- Laura 23,471
- Lilly 21,714
- Lydia 18,353
- Libby 14,515
- Lara 13,415
- Lacey 13,406
FAQ
Letty: questions and answers
How popular is the name Letty in the UK right now?
In 2024, Letty was ranked #2253 for girls in England and Wales, with 12 births registered.
When was Letty most popular?
The peak year on record was 2017, with 26 babies registered as Letty in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Letty?
A feminine diminutive form of the Spanish name Leticia, meaning "gladness.".
How many people are called Letty in the UK?
A total of 206 babies have been registered as Letty across the 15 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 4 more in Scotland.
Where is Letty most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Letty ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #675 in 2016. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.