Hi Jennifer!

Thank you so much for creating this site, it is one of my favorite websites and I visit it almost every day!

I was just wondering if you could help me find out the origin of my name, Lexington. It is not a family name; it’s just a name that my parents liked. I have always wondered what the meaning and origin of my name is and I feel like I have searched every baby name website and am still unable to find the meaning.

Thank you so much for your help!

Lexie

Dear Lexie,

You are very welcome and thank you for your kind words! The name Lexington comes from the place name, a city in Massachusetts and the site of the first shot of the Revolutionary War. There is also a town named Lexington in Kentucky.

There are several theories of where the town name originated.  One is that “Lex” is the Latin word for “law” so Lexington would mean “Town of Law” or “Town of the New Law” which would make sense for the early American settlers who were escaping the old law of the English king.

Another theory is that the town was named after the English town, now named Laxton, formerly Laxintone. That town name may have come from the old English Leaxingtūn meaning the “farmstead or estate of Leaxa” where Leaxa was a given or family name.

Sorry I can’t give you a more definite answer and I hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Jennifer

Jennifer Moss (she/her) is the founder of BabyNames.com, author of The Baby Names Workbook, and Producer of The Baby Names Podcast. Jennifer is widely regarded as the leading expert on popular baby name trends and the naming process, serving as the authoritative source on the subject for national and international media.

Jennifer entered the tech arena in the 80s as a software developer and database architect, and became a pioneer in the Internet industry. In addition to operating BabyNames.com, Jennifer owns a web development agency in central California.