Light

Locally spelled Wright in US United States, GB United Kingdom, AU Australia and 6 more.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records, and ○ marks a model's transliteration; click a spelling to open its page.

Attested across 18 languages in the etymology graph.

Names that people choosing a name often weigh against Light, most often first. They share a style rather than an origin.

• Bright
• Noor
• Bud
• Moon
• Rainbow

From the names suggested together in public name-advice forums, in English. A list of what people consider, not a measure of how common any name is.

Light is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish surname10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico

  Also written Liğht, Lỉght, Lîght, Līght, Ĺïġht

• Hindi surname4 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, India, Canada

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu

  Also written Lïght, Líght

58 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Light is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, from OE lēoht 'light'; may mean 'light place' or 'little'; first attested Thomas de Leht 1275 RH (K)

  as a name·A Dictionary of English Surnames

• In English, hému-vo, yate; v., to light a torch, td and tonga

  as a word·Vocabulary of the Mende Language

• In English, from ME lyght, OE leoht light (not dark), bright, cheerful. 2. nickname for someone who was busy and active, from

  as a name·A dictionary of surnames

• In English, Electromagnetic radiation in the wavelength range visible to the human eye (about 400–750 nanometers); visible light.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Portuguese, light (low in fat, calories, alcohol, salt or other undesirable substances)

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

• William Lightb. 1786AUSurveyor-General of South Australia who designed Adelaide's street plan in 1836 (1786–1839)
• Judith Lightb. 1949USAmerican actress
• John Lightb. 1972GBBritish actor

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

34 registers and reference works attest this spelling, across 19 countries.

Register rows as of the 2026-10-09 data build.

What does the name Light mean, and where does it come from?

from a nickname meaning cheerful, nimble, or small. Recorded by Encyclopedia of surnames [the complete companion to tracing your names history].

What are other forms of the name Light?

In the etymology graph, Licht and Leicht are forms of the same name in other languages.

Which countries have the most people with the surname Light?

In the United States, the national register counted about 459 thousand people named Wright, more than in any other country we hold. After it come United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and South Africa; the country table on this page ranks them.

How common is the name Light?

In the United States, the national register counted 458,980 people named Wright in 2010, about 1 in 725 residents.

How common is Light compared with other names?

In the United States, Light is the 31st most common surname of 6,282,806 surnames recorded there.