Lacy, Lacey

Personally, I think this is a really interesting name, that is really two names with two different reasons for being used as a given name. Lacy is a surname that made the transition to use as a given name. It was mainly used for boys, and was reasonably common in the 19th century, and continued to be used for boys until the 1940's. In this capacity it was usually spelled Lacy. In the 1970's it began to be used more often as a girl's name--usually spelled Lacey but sometimes spelled Lacy as well. In some cases this was probably related to other surnames that were drafted into use as given names for girls, such as Ashley, Morgan, and Bailey. This brings us to the other reason for the use of Lacey as a given name. The word lace makes Lac(e)y a fairly obvious feminine name, since lace is associated with femininity. This meaning probably actually works agains the name's popularity with the same parents who choose names like Morgan and Ashley for their daughters--names that aren't traditionally considered too "girly."