Head to head · Girls' names
Leilany vs Lennox
#694 vs #716 in 2025 · Hawaiian vs Gaelic roots
Leilany is a whisker ahead (#694 vs #716 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Leilany is holding its place on the charts, Lennox is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Leilany leads 4 measures of 6; Lennox leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1980s: Leilany #12362, Lennox — — Leilany higher
- 1990s: Leilany #8962, Lennox #13518 — Leilany higher
- 2000s: Leilany #2475, Lennox #12681 — Leilany higher
- 2010s: Leilany #1365, Lennox #1762 — Leilany higher
- 2020s: Leilany #746, Lennox #638 — Lennox higher
Leilany stood higher in 4 of 5 decades; Lennox took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Leilany | Lennox |
|---|---|---|
| 1980s | #12362 | — |
| 1990s | #8962 | #13518 |
| 2000s | #2475 | #12681 |
| 2010s | #1365 | #1762 |
| 2020s | #746 | #638 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Leilany
heavenly flowers, or royal child
From Hawaiian lei, a garland or wreath of flowers, and lani, sky, heaven, or royalty. Read together the sense is a heavenly lei — and by extension a royal or beloved child. Leilany is a respelling and carries the same meaning as Leilani.
lei + lani (Hawaiian) → Leilani → Leilany
How it traveled
The name is Hawaiian, built from two ordinary and much-used words of the language, lei and lani, that appear in dozens of Hawaiian names. Leilani reached the wider United States largely through music and film in the twentieth century, most famously the song "Sweet Leilani," written by Harry Owens and recorded by Bing Crosby, which took the Academy Award for best original song in the 1930s.
Lennox
From the Lennox district in Scotland — 'place of elms'
The root is Gaelic leamhan, 'elm'; the district name Leamhnachd was anglicized through forms like Levenax before settling as Lennox. The River Leven, running out of Loch Lomond through that same country, carries the same root.
leamhan (Gaelic, 'elm') → Leamhnachd → Levenax → Lennox
How it traveled
The Lennox is a real place: the old territory around Loch Lomond and the Leven valley, in what is now Dunbartonshire and Stirlingshire. From the twelfth century it gave its name to an earldom, and later to a dukedom held in the Stewart line, so the word traveled with noble families and then with ordinary emigrant ones.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Leilany
lay-LAH-nee
The final y is pronounced ee, exactly as the i in Leilani. Both English and Spanish speakers land on the same four syllables, with the stress on LAH. Some English speakers begin with a lie- sound instead; lay- follows the Hawaiian.
- Lani — The most natural short form; also a standalone Hawaiian given name in its own right.
- Leila — Informal, from the first half; also an established given name of Arabic and Persian origin, which some families like and others find confusing.
- Lei — Very short and informal, mostly used within families.
- Lay — An English-sounding clip of the first syllable, heard among school friends rather than adults.
Lennox
LEN-uks
Stress on the first syllable. Two syllables everywhere in English; the ending sounds exactly like the x in box. Rarely mispronounced, though it is sometimes misspelled as Lenox.
- Lenny — The most common informal short form; also stands alone as a given name in its own right, usually from Leonard.
- Len — Clipped and old-fashioned in tone; long established as an independent name as well.
- Nox — A recent short form taken from the ending rather than the start; used informally.
- Lex — Informal, borrowed from the x sound; also used for Alexander and Alexandra.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Leilany if you want…
- a name most people already know#694 in 2025, 407 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 105 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itLeilany runs 3 syllables, Lennox 2
Choose Lennox if you want…
- a name fewer children share#716 in 2025 — lennox will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name past its most crowded yearsLennox is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesLennox is 2 syllables to Leilany's 3
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Leilany
Strengths
- The sound is already widely familiar through Leilani, so most people can repeat it correctly after hearing it once.
- Reads the same way in English and Spanish, since a final y and a final i both give the ee sound.
- Comes with short forms that already stand alone as names — Lani, Leila — so there is room to grow into or out of.
To consider
- The standard spelling is Leilani, and that is what people will default to in writing. Expect a lifetime of gentle corrections on forms, name tags and email addresses.
- Lei and lani are living words in the Hawaiian language, not decorative syllables. Some families like knowing that; others prefer not to respell a word from a language they do not speak.
- This spelling's wave is very recent, so nearly everyone carrying it is still a child. That means no adult namesakes to point to yet, but also that it will sound of its generation for a long while.
Lennox
Strengths
- The spelling is the standard one for the Scottish district and surname, so most people write it correctly on the first try.
- Familiar to English speakers as a surname long before it was a first name, which means it reads as a real name rather than an invention.
- Works for a boy or a girl without changing form or spelling.
To consider
- Most children given this name are boys, though a real minority are girls. For a girl it will read as the less expected choice, which some families welcome and others find tiring to explain.
- Its rise as a first name is very recent, so the name skews strongly young right now. It sounds contemporary in a way that its medieval Scottish roots do not immediately suggest.
- The -ox ending puts it in company with Knox, Maddox and Jax, a cluster of currently fashionable sounds. If you want a name that doesn't signal its decade, that's worth weighing.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Leilany and Lennox in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
Where Leilany and Lennox each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Leilany or Lennox — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Leilany or Lennox?
- Leilany, in 2025: Leilany ranked #694 with 407 babies; Lennox ranked #716 with 392 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Leilany or Lennox?
- Leilany. Over the last five years Leilany moved up 105 places; Lennox moved down 127 places.
- Which is the older name, Leilany or Lennox?
- Leilany entered the US charts in 1989; Lennox entered the US charts in 1996. On the American record, Leilany is the older name.
- How many people are named Leilany and Lennox?
- About 4,900 people named Leilany are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 5,400 people named Lennox are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Leilanys or Lennoxs in the classroom?
- Leilany will almost certainly be the only one in school. Lennox will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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