Vaughn
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Small
- Origin
- Celtic
About the Name Vaughn
Vaughn comes from Celtic roots, specifically a Welsh word meaning "small" or "little," originally used as a descriptive byname for a younger or slighter person before settling into use first as a surname and then as a given name. That landscape of Welsh origin gives it a crisp, distinctive character, with a meaning that is humble in sense but genuinely striking in sound and feel.
As a given name, Vaughn has a smooth, single-syllable sophistication and a touch of mid-century cool that has kept it quietly appealing for generations. Its soft opening and clean finish lend it an understated elegance, and its surname heritage gives it a polished, slightly formal air without feeling stuffy. It reads as confident and refined — a sleek, grown-up choice that pairs well with a wide range of middle names and surnames.
Vaughn first entered the US Social Security top-1000 for boys in 2000 and reached its peak in 2006 at rank #736. It has shown solid longevity, remaining in the rankings through 2017, when it sat at #963, after ranking #865 in 2016 with 261 births. Across its run it accounts for 4,212 recorded births, marking it as a sleek, enduring choice with quiet sophistication. It remains a sleek, refined choice with a timeless, grown-up sophistication. Its understated elegance has helped it stay quietly appealing across many generations.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Vaughn
US Popularity History (2000–2017)
Annual US births named Vaughn by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2007 with 306 boys named Vaughn (boy rank #739 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2017, ranked #963 for boys (216 US births). That's 224 places below its 2007 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Vaughn Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Vaughn the strongest states are Colorado, Wisconsin, Utah.
Strongest boys-name states
Weakest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | #1,273 | 35 |
| 2 | Florida | #1,065 | 37 |
| 3 | California | #935 | 200 |
| 4 | Washington | #934 | 44 |
| 5 | Illinois | #922 | 69 |
| 6 | Arizona | #888 | 18 |
| 7 | Indiana | #826 | 30 |
| 8 | Missouri | #818 | 26 |
| 9 | Pennsylvania | #813 | 53 |
| 10 | Ohio | #812 | 67 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Vaughn in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Looking for names like Vaughn?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Vaughn to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Vaughn against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
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