Lent as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Lent

What is the meaning of the name Lent ?

The baby name Lent is a Unisex name , 1 syllables long and is pronounced /lɛnt/ (LENT; rhymes with 'bent').

Lent is English in Origin.

Lent is a rare English word-name deriving from Old English lencten, “spring” or “lengthening (of days),” which later named the Christian season of fasting before Easter. It thus carries a dual resonance: the renewal of spring and the reflective discipline of the liturgical period. Cognates include German Lenz (“spring”) and Dutch lente, while French lent (“slow”) is etymologically unrelated.

As a given name, Lent appears sporadically in English-speaking records, especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the United States. Usage often reflects either devotional naming tied to the church calendar or the transfer of the Dutch surname Lent/Van Lent, associated with the village of Lent near Nijmegen. Variants and related forms include Lenz, Lente (a Dutch feminine given name), and the English surname Lenton; Len functions as a plausible nickname. Largely unisex in theory, Lent has historically skewed male.

⚙ Lent is an extremely rare name. Across our dataset of national birth registries and international name records, Lent appears only 23 times in total — found in 14 countries. If you're considering it, you'd be giving your child a name almost nobody else has.