Leda
Feminine · “Lycian lada”
Leda may not be a Greek name at all. The likeliest derivation is Lycian lada, a wife or woman, borrowed from a language of southwestern Anatolia that Greek was in contact with for centuries. A figure at the center of the Trojan cycle carries an Anatolian common noun meaning woman.
How old is the name Leda?
Leda was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Leda alive today was born around 1942, making them about 83 years old. About 1,700 people named Leda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Leda most popular?
Leda peaked in 1904, reaching #511 nationally. Today it ranks #8362, 7,851 places below that high. See the whole 1904 chart.
Where it comes from
From lada to Leda
The story of Leda
The egg is the odd part of the story and it is old. Several versions circulated in antiquity: Leda lays one egg, or two, or the egg is laid by Nemesis and given to Leda to raise, and from it come Helen and her brothers. Vase paintings from the fifth century BC show the egg being displayed. What the versions agree on is that Helen, the cause of the Trojan War, has a birth outside the ordinary, and that her siblings are divided between mortal and divine parentage: Castor and Clytemnestra mortal, Polydeuces and Helen not. The image of the swan has had an extraordinary afterlife in European art, from Leonardo and Michelangelo to Yeats, whose sonnet on it is one of the best known poems in English. The name's Anatolian origin is a reminder of how much of Greek myth came from the eastern side of the Aegean.
Meaningscholars disagree
Lycian lada, woman or wife
The most widely accepted derivation takes the name from Lycian lada, a wife, which would make it a borrowing from an Anatolian language rather than a Greek word. No Greek etymology commands support. In myth Leda is the mother of Helen and of Polydeuces, and in the best known version bears them from an egg after Zeus visits her as a swan. It peaks in the American data in 1904.
How the name formed
- lada
- Leda
Related forms: Leda · Leda
Pronouncing Leda
LEE-dah
Two syllables, stress on the first, long first vowel. LAY-dah is also heard and is closer to the Italian and Spanish readings. The Greek is LEE-thah in the modern language, with the d as a soft th.
Nicknames for Leda
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 191655 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #511reached in 1904
- Change vs 2022
- −47.8%12 in 2025, from 23
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Leda in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Leda in Greek — transliteration
- Leda in Italian — same name
Ledas among us
people named Leda are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 133,939 born in 2025 was named Leda
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Leda sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Leda beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Leda in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Short, balanced and easy to spell.
- It has a documented place in one of the central Greek myth cycles.
- The sound is soft and works in several languages.
- The myth attached to it is a story about assault.
- Two vowel readings of the first syllable circulate.
- The etymology is probable rather than settled.
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Leda
Feminine · #8362 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ledas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,700 people named Leda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Leda in 2025?
- Leda ranks #8362 among US girl names in 2025, with 12 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Leda?
- About 1 in every 133,939 US girls born in 2025 was named Leda — 12 in all.
- Will my child share the name Leda with classmates?
- Leda will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Leda
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lona#8362 · Peggy#8362 · Margarette#8362 · Rella#8362 · Evalena#8362 · Vashti#8362 · Clementina#8362 · Nona#8362
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Leda? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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